Cherished Treasure
by Crystal Night
Summary: It's been thirty five years since the Battle of Five Armies which left Bilba exiled from Erebor. Now a lone figure stands nervously at the gates, unsure as to the welcome she is to receive. For the rest of Thorin's Company, things are about to get turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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><p>The trip from Dale to the gates of Erebor were mostly a blur. She remembered walking there. Remembered the curious stares of the dwarves she passed. She kept to the edge of the road to keep from the way of passing carts and the heavy pressing traffic. She watched food, cloth goods and other such things moved towards the dwarven kingdom, while heavily guarded carts with rattling chests of armour, weapons and jewels headed for the city of man in an endless circle.<p>

It had been thirty five years since the death of the great and mighty Smaug the destroyer and the reclaiming of the Lonely Mountain by the exiled dwarven king, Thorin, son of Thráin. Now the kingdom was thriving. The human city of Dale rebuilt and the ruins of Laketown long since removed. In its place was a monument to the lives lost during the dragon's attack, Smaug's iron casted skull on display as a warning of greed at the head of the newly constructed lake port.

The farmlands around the the mountain were still weak however, the soil poor despite the long years since the desolation. She had stopped, looking out of the failing crops, sad looking wheat stalks, bowing corn and browning barley and remembered thinking how they should just burn the lot, turn the soil and let the ground rest for the year. That really they were going about it all wrong, but who was she to judge, she was just a hobbit. With a shake of her head she had continued on.

Now she stood with a crumpled envelope in her shaking hands and her pack heavy on her back before the mighty gates of Erebor, her long journey complete. She knew her eyes were wide with awe and just a little trepidation. She had no idea of the reception she was in for. What would the Company think of her? What would the king? She swallowed at the thought, but took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She had come all this way and if they were just going to turn her out… well then she'd continue on her journey. She had always wanted to see Rohan.

With that in mind, she approached one of the gate guards and tried to keep her steps steady under his heavy gaze. He had been watching her from beneath his helmet the moment she had come into sight. She bit her bottom lip. "Um, excuse me, Master Dwarf. I was hoping you might be able to direct me to where I might be able to find Master Dwalin?"

His thick brow pulled down into a mean looking scowl. "What's this now? What business would you have with the Guard Captain? Be gone. The Captain is far too busy to be dealing with the likes of you."

"What?" She closed her open mouth. "The likes of _me_? You, Master Dwarf," She jabbed a finger at his breastplate. "Do not even know me, let alone my _likes_. I simple yes or no would have sufficed. There was no need to be rude." With a huff she crossed her arms below her chest and leveled him with a stare.

The guardsmen would beat anyone would claimed that he let the little female cow him, but there was something about her fearless fire that just made him want to please her. Now that he looked at her, she was quite the sight pleasing herself, even with her smooth cheeks. But the lack of beard made the sweet apple in her cheeks stand out all the more and did nothing to dull the sharp blue of her eyes. What a shame her black locks were all bound up in a bun at the back of her head, made him wonder how long it might be.

He had stared long enough for her to begin fidgeting. She turned up large pleading eyes. "Please, Master Dwarf, I've come a long way and I'm very tired. If you can't leave your post or don't know where he is, can't to point me to someone who can? Please?"

Let it be known that Cravo, son of Darvo, would never turn away a female in need. With a grunt he called out to another dwarf just coming up the road. "Gimli, just returned?"

The newcomer nodded. "Ai, just had to get a few things from the men in town. Who's this little thing?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I never even introduced myself." She backed away a step and bowed as she had been taught. "Marabell Baggins, at your service."

"Ba-Baggins?!" Gimli stuttered, looking a look towards the guard before turning his eyes back towards the halfling as if seeing her for the first time. He noted her travel stained clothes and the small sword at her hip. He choked on whatever it was he meant to say afterwards.

The guardsmen bowed low in the following silence. "Mistress Baggins, Master Gimli would be happy to bring you to Master Dwalin, if that is your wish?"

She let out a sigh of relief and turned a grateful smile onto the younger dwarf. "Thank you, Master Gimli. I hope this isn't any trouble for you."

"I- No, Mistress Baggins. No trouble. I'll show you to the Guard Captain right away."

With one last thankful bow towards the guard, Marabell followed Gimli's lead into the great dwarven city of Erebor.

Her eyes jumped from one feature to another. To say Erebor was like no place she had ever seen was no lie. Its rich greenstone architecture was both powerful and oddly graceful. Smooth archways were decorated with beautiful runes. Thick pillars held up stone pathways. Everything was big and laid out in layers, though she dared not get too close to the edge to see how far she could see down into its heart. The paths were packed with dwarfs going about their day and she did not want to risk getting knocked over the edge. It would be a rather sad ending to her journey.

Holding her letter to her chest, she followed closely behind Gimli. From time to time she noticed his eyes on her but they quickly turned away the moment he noticed her gaze. They were heading down and she was surprised at how bright the inner mountain was. There were fires, adding their warm glow, however the bulk of the light seemed to come from the stone itself. A gift from Mahal she remembered reading.

As they traveled down, she did her best to ignore the openly curious looks from the dwarfs they passed. She did note the slow change in their clothes as they descended, from fine silk of the noble class to the rougher, heavy linens and hardened leather of the workers. She also wondered at how not every little sound echoed. She would think that you'd hear a pin drop for miles in the stone halls, but the walls had a way of absorbing sound, giving the high ceilinged halls a warm, comforting feel.

Or maybe it was simply because it felt like home.

Gilmi pushed open a large set of doors, followed quickly by two others. It opened into a large amphitheater with a rough stone ceiling and curved bench seating. Instead of a stage at its heart was a pit. The arena floor was covered with a deep layer of deep fine sand. Two figures were squared off at its center. She noticed at least another dozen watching from the benches.

"Here you are, Mistress Baggins. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Marabell turned her eyes towards the fighters, her eyes fixing on the simply massive dwarf wielding a hammer. He - well he dwarfed his competitor. The other held up a pair of axes with unsure hands. It was clear he was outclassed and did not want to be there. The larger dwarf barked out, "Come on, you sniveling babe, it's not like its sharp!" He laughed, easily swinging the giant warhammer from one hand to the other like it weighed no more than a simple wooden stick. She swore she could see the other shaking from her stop at the top row.

In her silence, Gimli had turned to leave, taking it as a dismissal but stopped at her soft call. "Master Gimli, uhm, just one last thing. Which is Master Dwalin?"

He looked more than a little surprised by her questions and all the more confused. "He's… the one with the hammer."

"Oh," her lips froze in their little O shape before thinning out into a determined line. With a quick smile and bow she thanked him for helping her before squaring her shoulders and moving quickly down the steps. Gimli would never admit it, but for a moment he was caught up in watching her move like water, all smooth and graceful as could be, as she walked down the stairs. With a little mental shake he headed out to find his father. Mistress Baggins had returned.

Near the edge of the arena, Marabell stopped just behind the other spectators who were so fixed on the two out on the sand that they had failed to even notice her. She resolved to wait till the fight was finished till she could get Dwalin's attention. Though the wait did little for her nerves.

She had thought he was big when she had been higher up, now on the ground level he was just monstrous. All bulking muscles and fierce power from his thick arms to his arching mohawk and head tattoos. His beard had a bit of sand caught in it and he skin was flushed with sweat, but he didn't appear to be the least bit winded. Looking over the others sitting on the benches, however she noted that this was not his first victim of the day. Several others sat to the sides looking battered and bruised.

A collective gasp brought her eyes back to see the smaller, nearly beardless dwarf now flat on his back gasping for breath while Dwalin loomed over him. He rested his hammer up onto a single broad shoulder. "And 're dead. A tree could kill you, you move so slow." The young dwarf at his feet cowered under a stare Marabell could not see before he reached down a meaty hand and hauled the fallen dwarf to his feet. "I expect better from you. Next!"

Seeing her chance, Marabell called out, "Oh, excuse me!" Everyone seated in front of her jumped, some all the way to their feet. Their reaction startled her even and she flushed. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up."

The only one who hadn't turned was Dwalin. He moved towards the edge of the pit where they had racks of weapons sitting. "There a reason you're interrupting?" he snapped.

"Yes, there is."

Dwalin started. His eyes jumping up to meet a round pair in a surprising shade of blue. She had moved around the arena as he had and now stood directly overhead and he hadn't even heard her move. A quick glance showed that his students had noticed his reaction and he sent them a sharp glare to quiet their snickering.

The blue-eyed female had crouched down to be more on level with him when he turned his head back. She was holding out a crumpled letter. "It's for you," she said hoping that he hadn't heard the slight tremor in her voice.

He stared at it for a moment before snatching it from her hand. "This better be important." He turned the paper over a few times. There was no seal and the edges were worn, the folds sharp. The letter had clearly been written some time ago so it was likely nothing important. If it had been they would have sent a raven. The sneer dropped from his face the moment he began to read.

_Dwalin,_

_I hope this letter finds its way to you, and with it my most cherished treasure. I knew not who else to send her to, nor the reception she will receive once there. Please forgive me in this, but I know you would be able to safely deliver her to Balin. The smaller letter included within this one is for his eyes only._

Dwalin turned his attention to the second, smaller envelope. It was just as aged as his own, however bore a plain red seal and was bound with twine.

_Should your brother no longer be among us - for it had been some years since I have last heard news of him and some more yet since I have written these letters - than the letter and its contents will fall to you. I know you will see them through._

_I wish to write you more, old friend, however I know not what else to say. So I will simply say, Thank You. _

_Bilba Baggins, of Bag Ends_

_at your service. _

He carefully folded the letter and slipped it into a pocket before finally looking at the letter's bearer. How hadn't he noticed? She had her mother's same gentle face and upturned nose. The eyes were the same shape, though not the same colour as Bilba's had been rich green. The hair was different also, not the copper gold of her mother's but a pitch black. Same ear though.

He had completely forgotten about the younglings till one of them muttered something unflattering about the same ears he had just noticed. He barked at them in Khuzdul and they quickly filed out of the room.

Dwalin turned his attention back to Bilba's daughter. Mahal, Bilba's daughter. She had had a child. It was a little hard to imagine. The Company had often wondered what had happened to their little burglar since she had left them on the eve of battle. They had missed her sorely but as the years passed, had thought less and less of her. If he was honest, he hadn't spared the halfling a thought in some years. Now here was her daughter.

And although he could tell she was nervous, she fearlessly met his eyes and he was reminded of a time where a young hobbit lass opened a her green round door to the sight of a unexpected dwarf at her door.

He wondered what her presence in the mountain meant for the rest of them but decided to forgo those thoughts. They were better left to his brother and knowing the older dwarf, he already knew something of the situation. If not in whole, at least in part.

He brushed the sand from his beard and clothes, exchanged the warhammer for his pair of axes and jumped out from the pit. The lass pulled back and stood, giving him room. And it might have just been him but he thought she seemed a bit tall for a hobbit. Then again, who was he to judge? He had only never know one other hobbit before. Likely took after her sire. Which raised a few more questions he didn't care to get into either. Best find his brother.

She hadn't been sure what his reaction to the letter would be. She knew what it said and knew it wasn't much. She also knew that her mother had never told the Company about her. But she had expected more than just a grunt and a gesture to follow as he marched up the steps and back out the doors.

This time she struggled to keep up. Dwalin was a large dwarf, his strides long, forcing her to jog slightly as they traveled back upwards. At least Gimli had made sure she hasn't fallen behind. Dwalin made so such effort. Although in his case at least the crowds parted for him, making a clear path in his wake for her to follow along.

After more twist and turns and even more stairs than she had ever had the fortune to climb before, coupled with her already long journey, Marabell was starting to stumble over her own feet, her breaths coming out in heavy pants. She wondered where they were going. Her only guess was that they were headed towards Balin, Dwalin's brother. As they moved down a pathway with a clear view of the empty throne, she prayed that that was the case. Last thing she wanted was to be dumped in front of the king.

There had always been that fear that her mother's exile from the mountain would extend to her as well. Her mother had done her best to quell such worries but as Marabell had drawn closer to Erebor they had resurfaced and she began to dream of all the ways things could go wrong for her.

More often she dreamed that she was in her mother's place as King Thorin cast her down from the battlements over the city gates. Had it not been for the quickness of the elves below and the swift actions of a certain wizard, that would have been the end of her mother's tale, splattered across the broken stones below. Her reward for saving a kingdom. In the dead of night the thought brought her the terror of sharing the same fate. In the daylight it brought nothing but anger and hatred for the King Under the Mountain.

Lost in thought, Marabell bumped into Dwalin's hard back when he stopped to open a door. He grunted with a sharp glare before disappearing inside, leaving the door open for her to follow. She did so slowly, carefully pulling the door closed behind her. Directly before the door faced a long stone desk scattered with papers, books, an ink pot and a lit pipe. Overhead a lantern gave off more than enough light to write by. To the left was another door. On her right a seating area with a semicircle of high-backed chairs around a glowing fire.

Dwalin's large frame blocked her view of the dwarf behind the desk, but from the warmth in his voice and his welcoming tone, she guessed it to be Balin. Her mother had always spoken fondly of the dwarf.

"A letter? Since when do you bring me my mail?" Balin teased, taking the proffered letter from his brother's calloused hands. It was an old thing. A strange thing. With a simple red seal and rough twine. But it was the corners, all worn and soft as if it had seen more than just a few pockets on its travels that caught his eyes. The letter must be several years old if he was to judge.

His brother crossed his arms with a huff but didn't answer as he watched Balin break the wax seal and unbind the letter. Like his own, another envelope slipped onto the desk. This one had a green seal and was more carefully wrapped. The white haired dwarf set it to the side for the time being and turned his eyes down to read his letter.

At the sight of the familiar scrawl his old heart jumped and he knew who the letter was from.

_Balin,_

_My old friend, I do hope this letter finds you well. It had been some years since our last exchange and more yet since I write this. I fear you might already know what this means._

_You are a clever dwarf and... _

There it more to the letter, but he lowers it and draws in a deep breath. He does know what this letter means and he cannot stop the tears that fall. He had known this day would come and yet that knowledge did not lessen the hurt it brought.

"Brother, what is it?" There is worry and concern in his brother's tone.

They had all dealt with loss before, but it did not make such news easy to give. "It seems... our Burglar is no longer among us."

"What?" At the news Dwalin turned to the figure which up until that point had been lost behind his tall frame as if seeking answers.

Balin's old eyes land on the hobbit lass and Bilba's words jump back at him. _You are a clever dwarf._ And he was. He also remembered the letters he had received from the lass over the years. At the time he had thought little of it. When he had contacted her that despite her banishment that she was still entitled to one fourteenth of the gold. His letters had gone unanswered and Thorin had ordered the gold delivered to Bag End regardless. It was hers and he would no longer keep it in the mountain.

Had it not been for Gandalf who arrived just before they had planned to set out, they would have arrived to an empty, cold hobbit hole. The wizard also had in his care of letter from the lass addressed to him. Thorin had been hurt and angry but since it was her gold to do with as she wished he had little choice but to abide by her wishes and give a half of it to help Dale with its rebuilding, on top of the gold Thorin had already promised them, and asked that the rest be given to all the families returning to Erebor. A small sum to aid them in starting their new lives, at Balin's discretion. With the unspoken rule of provided slightly more to those with the greater need than those already well off.

As it was, over thirty years later there was still much of their Burglar's gold left. Balin had even started to give some to new mothers as encouragement to raise more children. There were so few left of their kind after all the years of loss. As it was it would take hundreds of years for Erebor to even reach half of its population before Smaug's attack.

But it was her reason for not wanting the gold which he remembered most. Her letter had read, '_I took only a single jewel with me. I have no need for anymore. As it is whenever I look upon it, I am reminded of everything we went through to reach this point. It hurts sometimes, but I'm grateful nonetheless. It's all I'll ever need._' He had thought little of it then and in later a letter when she written to ask if when the time came, they could watch over her most precious treasure, he again thought little of it. Gandalf had only waiting long enough for him to write a quick reply saying that they would, that it was the least they could do for everything she had done for them, before he had run off to do more wizard deeds. That was the last he had heard from her.

But it came to him now. What was more precious than one's own child? A child she carried back with her. The only jewel she had needed. One that reminded her of all of them, but most importantly, one that reminded her of _him_.

"Oh, no." Balin turned sad eyes towards the sitting area. With his brother's sudden appearance he had forgotten about the rooms other occupant. Thorin had moved to stand just outside the ring of chairs, the fire at his back. They hadn't heard him move and Balin felt a swell of sorrow for his king as their eyes met. Dwalin's form slumped and he lowered his head seeing Thorin's haunted, confused and hurt expression.

"Bilba's… How? When did this happen?" The last held a thread of anger and the king turned his hurtfilled stare on the little hobbit messenger in their midst. "Tell me!"

At the direct order, Marabell's whole stance changed. Her back went steely, her lips lined to a hard line, hands closed into fists and her blue eyes lit with fire. "No." The room stilled at the steel in her tone. "You have _no right_. How _dare_ you?" the hobbit hissed, stepping around Dwalin to stand before the king. It didn't seem to matter to the girl that Thorin stood a height taller than her, she stared down the King Under the Mountain. She didn't need an introduction, her mother had described the dwarf to her often, more so in her later years. "You have no right to be upset when it was you who killed her in the first place!"

"What?! How dare you-"

She cut him off. "No! You killed them both! And now you want to play remorseful? Where were you all these years? Did you even care? You just left her, threw her to the side when you were finished. You took my brother from me! And you want-"

Thorin surged forward. "She was my One! Who are you to-"

"She was my _mother_!" They watched as her expression brake like fine glass and tears spilled down her flushed cheeks. She turned and was gone a moment later.

Balin cursed. "Dwalin, get her back before she gets himself lost." With a nod the larger dwarf ran from the room, not even bothering to close the door. They knew just how quick footed hobbits could be and should the young lass not wish to be found then they might never find her. Coming around his desk, Balin smacked his king across the back of his head like a youngling. Thorin turned angry eyes on the old dwarf but Balin ignored him. "Now you've gone and made a right mess of things, Thorin." He closed the door before turning around to face his king.

"She's-" Thorin pointed to the door and Balin took pity on his often dense leader.

"Ai, Bilba's daughter. _Your_ daughter. Who, it seems, also got your lovely temper to go with your eyes." It was situations like this that made Balin feel very much like a dwarf nearing his two hundred and twenty-fourth year. It also made him want to drink. Since he had none of that in his office, he did the next best thing and knocked the spent ashes from his pipe and refilled the bowl.

"She was with child… And you knew?" The hard edge of accusation was there but Balin simply ignored it, steering his king towards back towards the fire.

"Not as such, no. As far as I knew she had lost the babe." He held up his hand. "Let me explain before you go jumping to conclusions." He waited for Thorin to settle back in his own chair before offering him his pipe. Thorin took a long pull before handing it back. "As I said, as far as I knew she had lost the child shortly after she was exiled. With the sickness, I saw no need to add to your burden. Since she had not told you before, it was hardly my place to mention it after."

Thorin slumped forward, his hands running up into his wild hair. He had pulled several of the braids out when he had come into his office earlier. His sister enjoyed braiding the thick bands of grey at his temples into a tail at the back. Said she enjoyed the sharp contrast between it and his black locks. "Was it because…"

Even after all the years, Thorin still carried the heavy guilt of his actions that day when he, in his madness, had cast his One from his mountain. Balin had no doubt that he would forever regret it and he truly hated to add to it. However Thorin had the right to know the whole tale now. "I went to check on her some time later that day. When they directed me to their healing tents I didn't think much of it. But when I saw her…" His throat tightened at the image of Bilba's eyes, so lifeless and lost as she held a tiny, wrapped bundle to her chest. "It was a boy. The healers said it was from the stress. It had been too much for her to bare."

There were tears on the king's cheeks when he turned his face up some time after that. "...There had been another babe then."

Balin nodded and rose to get the unfinished letter from his desk before sinking back into the chair across from the heart sick king. He continued, this time aloud so that Thorin may hear what had been said.

_...You are a clever dwarf and I know the moment you see her for yourself that you will know who her sire is. She has his temper too - so tread carefully! But when she smiles I can often see the boys in her grin or the mischief in her eyes. I thank the gods every day for giving her to me and for not taking both my children that day. Though I worry often, hobbit twins are often bonded tightly to each other and some days its as if she's looking for someone who isn't there. _

_But I write this with the knowledge that I am not long for this world. I feel myself slipping away and with each day I watch my daughter's anger at her sire grow. I fear she will come to hate herself for being half dwarf, but my daughter has always been a poor hobbit. Though she knows the earth like any other, her headstrong nature and mix appearance makes life difficult for her here in the Shire. She broke the nose of the first fauntling to make fun of her small feet, if you can believe it, and as soon as she had interest I had her training with the rangers how to use a sword. _

_I know life will be unbearable for her here without me. I can see it in her eyes. She loves Bag End but it's never really been her home and she has a very long life ahead of her. I raised her on tales of our adventures and I know she knows who her father is without ever asking. I've done what I can to highlight the good, however her bitterness grows as greatly as her curiosity. I know she longs to meet the Company and needs to learn more of herself._

_So I'm making it my final wish for her to travel to Erebor. I sent her to your brother first only because I felt his position would make him the easiest to find and to approach. I hope he didn't mind. I fear my letter to him was rather short. _

_Also I pray that you break it to him gently. I know this will not be easy for him and he will be angry that I never told him of her. Oh, and you might want to keep her away from him for a time till she is more settled. I fear she will not react well should she come across him by surprise. _

_Take care of her, my dear friend, and thank you._

_Bilba Baggins, of Bag Ends_

_at your service. _

Near the end of the letter Balin became aware of Dwalin's return. His brother shook his head when their eyes met. "Lost her four floors down. I have some of my boys looking," he said gruffly before clapping a hand on his friends downturned shoulders. "We'll find her, Thorin. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry. You'll just have to make it up to Bilba."

Thorin covered the warrior's hand with one of his own, his eyes still fixed on the floor between his boots. "I don't even know her name." His voice sounded small for a king. Broken and resigned.

"Marabell. She said her name was Marabell." Dwalin was happy to be able to give him that at least. He hoped that one of his guards found her soon. It wouldn't take long for news to spread of her arrival. They'd hear word of her soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>Marabell hadn't meant to run out of the room like she had. She really hadn't. It had been more of a flight or fight response really and the fact that shortly after she'd left the room she had a monstrous dwarf running her down hadn't helped. She had just run faster and harder, taking turns and stairs as she passed weaving around other dwarves about the halls.<p>

Soon she could no longer hear Dwalin shouting her name and had wandered into a less populated area of the mountain. She slowed to a walk, catching her breath while berating herself for yelling at the king as she had. If there had been a chance for her here before, it was gone now. The moment the guards, or Dwalin, caught her they were going to through her right back out the front gates and exile her just like they had her mother.

At some point as she had wandered, she had, like all hobbits in need of comfort, began to follow her nose. Even so she was surprised to find herself standing in the doorway of a very large, very busy kitchen.

Standing at its center like a king in his own right was the roundest dwarf she had ever seen with a big red beard. "Bombur."

He jumped with a slight yelp, not having seen her but quickly smiled. "Well, it's not everyday a hobbit walks into my kitchens!" He grinned. "But like everyone else who wanders in I'm sure you are hungry. Wait there, let me get you something to eat." With a kindly smile he turned, dusting off his hands as he ambled around the other workers to fix her something to eat.

She fidget under the curious looks of other dwarves and took to sitting on a high stool tucked near the corner to wait for Bombur to return. She hadn't come here looking for something to eat, although now that he mentioned it, food did sound good. She hadn't eaten since early morning before she had left Dale.

He had just finished loading up her plate and was half way back across the kitchen when an excited voice called out, "Bombur! You'll never guess what I heard!" A grinning dwarf stumbled in through the doors in his rush. He had a worn, sad looking hat on his head with two curled braids sticking out the sides and a dark mustache. "Bilba's back!" He announced with a wide, excited grin.

"Really? Maybe that's why I have a hungry hobbit in my kitchen." Both eyes turned to her.

She watched as Bofur's bright eyes widened as he took her all in. She couldn't stop the slight blush which pinkened her cheeks when he gave her a dimpled smile. "Bofur, at your service," he said with a bow, removing his hat as he did so. "This wonderful cook here is my brother, Bombur."

"Oh, um." She hopped down from the stool. "Marabell Baggins, at your service. It's wonderful to finally meet you both."

"Baggins?" Bofur shared a quick look with his brother. "So you're related to our Bilba then?" She nodded but he quickly continued on before she could speak. "You must be waiting for her to get out of her meeting with Thorin and the others up in Balin's office then. Will they be long, you think? I can't tell you how happy I am that we'll finally get to see our little burglar again. I was worried we'd never get the chance." He grinned happily.

Marabell shifted, biting her lip as her eyes saddened. Her mother had always spoken fondly of Bofur. On several occasions she had revealed that she had sometimes wished her heart had fallen for the cheerful toymaker and had wondered how different her life might have been at that been the case. Seeing the dwarf in question for herself, Marabell knew that her mother would have been happy with someone so cheery. It was clear that Bofur cared for Bilba and Marabell had always had a fondness for her mother's stories regarding him... Which made what she had to tell them all the harder.

"I'm so sorry," she started, taking a deep breath. "I- Bilba's not here."

"Oh?" Bofur visibly wilted. "That's a shame. I really thought she'd finally come back. So she send you? Or did you come on your own?"

Marabell's eyes turned away from the hopeful sight and she had to harden her heart to what she was going to have to tell them. These were her mother's dear friends, and they would find out one way or another. Best it came from her anyways. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, taking both of Bofur's mittened hands in her own. His eyes jumped to hers, wide with surprise from her boldness but she saw the moment he realized what she was going to say when his gaze suddenly closed off. "I'm so sorry, Bofur. But she's gone." His hold tightened on her hands but he didn't pull away. His head fell forward and she saw the shine of tears even before they fell onto the backs of his mittens. "I'm so sorry," she breathed, surging forward, unable to stop herself from offering him what comfort she could. She wrapped her arms about the dwarf's frame. He was stiff at first, then quickly melted into her embrace as he cried against her shoulder.

'_Dwarves may want the world to think they are made of stone,'_ her mother's voice echoed in her mind. '_But they are anything but. As quick to cry as they are to pick a fight.'_

It should have felt strange. She did not know this dwarf, though she felt like she did in some small way. Her mother had told her so much about the Company. Their likes and dislikes. Their strange little habits and even how they slept. She had known what food, drink and pipe weed each profured. Who liked to sing, who could dance and which enjoyed playing their instruments most. She knew their dreams and wishes and hopes. Bilba had passed all of these things onto her as she grew. So Marabell couldn't help but feel like she already knew them all.

When his arms loosened about her, she stepped back from him feeling slightly embarrassed though determined not to show it. His eyes were red of the tears and he shoulders still slumped but he looked at her curiously. She smiled softly and explained, "Bilba was my mother."

His eyes widened in surprise and he took a step back. "I should have seen it." He looked her over again. "You have her same warm eyes, though the colour is new."

Bombur sat the plate down beside her stood, taking a seat for himself. "Can you tell us what happened? You don't have to, just..."

"No, it's okay." She she bit at her lip. "She... faded. Six years ago now."

Bofur had taken to ringing his hat in his hands. "Faded? Did she… She didn't suffer, did she?"

"No, not as such." Marabell looked down at her own hands. "She just didn't wake up one morning." She wasn't sure if it would help to share that fact or not, but the memory was still a hard one for her to remember. In the back of her mind she had known it was coming. Each day her mother had slept a little more and a little longer. Those times when she was awake Bilba was often so caught up in old memories that hadn't notice anything else. It had been hard, Marabell had still been young herself and to have to take care of her mother on her own... If she was honest, she had been relieved that morning when she went to wake up her mom to make sure she ate and she hadn't opened her eyes. Her mother was at peace. She had her set to rest amongst the flowers of the back garden and Marabell had finally been able to leave the Shire which had never truly welcomed her.

For a while she had thought Erebor might be her new home but soon she would be cast out from it as well.

"Oh, lass..." She looked up when the heavy weight of Bofur's hand landed on her shoulder.

She felt tears bite at the backs of her eyes but she refused to cry. "I'd always wanted to meet you all. She told me so much about you. I feel like I've known you my entire life even if I've never seen your faces." She shook her head. "It's just so strange being _here_. It's too bad I wont be here very long," she said regretfully.

"Why not?" Bombur frowned. "You just got here and it's the prince's nameday feast tomorrow. You can't leave yet! You need to stay for that at the very least."

"I don't want to leave! But once Dwalin finds me he'll cast me out for sure." She had a sudden chilling thought and the colour drained from her face. Hugging her arms around herself she asked, "They won't kill me, will they? For yelling at him like that? Of throw me in the dungeons?"

The brother's shared a worried look. "Who?" They asked.

"The king." She bit her lip. She found it odd to use his name, though she knew it. She also refused to call him father. He had not earned that right. She might consider King Thorin, but that was a good as he was going to get and only because she felt that if she was more respectful he might just spare her. At least long enough to do what she was asked to do in Erebor before she was forced to move on.

"Thorin? I doubt it, lass. Thorin is used to being yelled at by now. Should hear the earful his sister gives him daily." He smiled. "Want to share why you yelled at him in the first place?"

She shifted. "Not really."

Bombur nodded. "Well, either way. You're here now and you are going to stay. We'll not let big old Thorin throw you out. Now eat, you must be starving. I need to get the cakes for tomorrow out of the ovens before they burn and make sure we have everything else we need. I'd rather not have to do too much last minute." With that he jumped down from his seat and moved off to talk to the nearest chef.

Bofur quickly took his brother's abandoned chair and gave her plate a little push towards her. "Better listen to him. Might not let you leave until you do."

With a grateful smile, she tucked into her late lunch. Her tummy gave a happy rumble for it. She let herself hope for a moment that she might be able to stay. It would be nice to eat seven meals a day again. She had missed that since leaving Bag End. She glanced up from her meal to seeing Bofur's curious eyes.

"There's something… different about ya. Can't put my finger on it. Nothing bad, I assure you. Just something familiar."

She took another bite of her meal and waited for him to find his own answer.

The dwarf pulled on the ends of his mustache in thought, looking her over again. "Shoes! You're wearing shoes. Thought all hobbits didn't wear shoes."

"They don't."

"But you got shoes on."

"I'm not all hobbit." She watched with amusement as his face went blank as he attempted to make sense of her answer.

"Not a hobbit? But you're Bilda's girl." She only nodded. "But-" He frowned. "Your sire wasn't a hobbit then?" His frown deepened. "A dwarf," he growled, looking positively murderous. He jumped up from his seat. "That bastard! I'll take his braids meself. How could he-" He was heading for the door. Bombur called out to him asking where he was going. Without turning Bofur shouted back, "To kill Thorin!"

"No, wait!" Marabell moved to go after him but the door was slammed closed and Bombur was at her side with a hand on her arm.

"Let him go. He won't get far before his anger runs out. A lot of us were angry for what Thorin did to your mother. It wasn't right. But it's still a sore spot for Bofur. I fear he was rather sweet on your mum. And then for Thorin to do what he did with her with you and all..."

Marabell looked towards the door before finding the round dwarf's sincere eyes. She let out a long breath. "She was sweet on him too. Your brother I mean." Bombur looked surprised. "She used to joke that if the king hadn't stolen her heart first she would have dragged Bofur back to the Shire, made him fat while he made toys for all the fauntlings."

Bombur's whole face softened into a wistful expression. "He'd have let her too." He sniffled. "That Bilba of ours… She always put everyone else's happiness before her own. I'm sad that we'll never get a chance to tell her just how sorry we all are. We all wished we could change that day."

Not wanting to talk about such heavy things anymore, she turned her eyes to the rather impressive cake the dwarf had set up on one of the large tables. "So who's birthday is it again?"

"Fili's! Our prince is another year older and I fear becoming more and more like Thorin with each turn. He's becoming far too serious. We're hoping the celebration will help bring him back to himself a little."

"Oh, I wish I had known so I could have gotten a gift!" Her mother would frown at her something fierce for such a thing. Though it was customary for hobbits to give gifts to their guests on their birthdays, she had spent enough time outside the Shire to know that most races only got gifts of their birthdays. Maybe there _was_ still something she could give him. "Oh, Master Bombur, can you tell me if he still won't eat apples?"

"Wont come near the things. I don't think he's even eaten one since our journey." He ran his hands over his round stomach. "You thinking of making something? It's not necessary you know, a gift I mean. You didn't know after all and-"

"No no. Mum would never forgive me if I didn't give him something for this birthday and I think I know the perfect gift too. Do you have any apples?"

His brows rose at that. "Yes. Got a whole bunch in from Dale just this week but surely you aren't going to give him apples. I just finished telling you-"

"It's tomorrow right? The party?" Bombur closed his mouth and simply nodded. "If they'll let me stay till then, then maybe I can use the kitchen? Just for a little while before the party?" Again he nodded and thought it worth it for the way she simply lit up. Even if poor Fili was going to end up with apples for a gift. If she smiled even half as bright for the prince then Bombur was sure he'd forgive her.

She was still smiling when Dwalin pushed his way in through the doors. Instantly the smile was gone and the round dwarf noted Dwalin's shoulder drop every so slightly at the sight. "Come on, lass." He turned to hold the door open. "Balin wants to talk to ya."

She turned briefly to Bombur. "Thank you for the food." She gave him one last tight smile before heading out through the door. At the cook's hard stare Dwalin simply shook his head, signing 'Later' behind Marabell's back before following her out.

The walk back to Balin's office felt longer. She wasn't sure if it was because it truly was longer, that she had wandered that far, or if it was because each step just felt so heavy. Already she felt emotionally drained and frayed. She wasn't sure if should would be able to handle another meeting with the king. Likely she would end up yelling again, or crying and she really just wanted a nap. She had been up since dawn and really most of the night. The inn she had stayed at in Dale hadn't been the nicest thing around. At one point someone had tried to get into her room and she had been awake for the rest of the night after that.

As if sensing her despair, Dwalin finally spoke up. "He won't be there. Thorin, I mean. Balin thought it best to give you both some more time before you have to see each other."

"Does this mean you'll let me stay?"

Dwalin turned so quickly at that that she nearly ran right into his chest. "Of course you're staying. Just try to bloody leave and you'll have half the mountain after ya."

There was that smile again and Dwalin quickly turned, hoping his ears hadn't gone red along with his bearded cheeks. She looked so much like her mother when she smiled liked that.

Again Dwalin didn't bother to knock as he entered his brother's office. Marabell was quick to glance towards the chairs by the fire this time. They were thankfully empty.

"Now then, my dear. I hope you are all right?" She turned to the white haired dwarf at the desk and suddenly realized they were alone. "Oh, don't mind him. I think he wants a word or two with our king as well. Tact as never been one of Thorin's strong suits. I'm very sorry about all that. I'm sure it's not the welcome you envisioned when you got here." He gestured towards the chairs. She was thankful to sit down.

Marabell folded her hands in her lap. "To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I would be allowed in at all. I mean… with mum's exile," At this Balin frowned. "I honestly thought I might be turned away at the gates. I think that's why mum sent me to Dwalin first."

"Is that why…?" Balin sat back in his chair. "Did she still really think that after all this time? Marabell, Thorin lifted your mother's exile the moment he was well enough to do so. We sent her ravens. We took her silence to mean she no longer wanted anything to do with us after everything that had happened to her."

Marabell jerked in her seat. "No! She waited. Till the very end she waited. She kept saying that you were just taking a while to get settled or that you'd all forgotten that not all races were as long lived and that time moved quicker for hobbits than for dwarves."

Balin gave a heavy sigh. "To think, all this time… The ravens came back with no replys at first, and then with their letters unread. After the first few years Thorin ordered us to leave your mother alone. That we had no right to force our way back into her life if it was against her wishes. We all missed her greatly, but we owed your mother peace at the very least."

"She almost approached a caravan passing by Bree from the Blue Mountains once. We had just moved back to the Shire when she heard there were dwarves nearby. She was going to get them to pass on a message but when she got to Bree she overheard them talking about her. Apparently they knew what had happened and had been talking about her likely because they had seen the other hobbits in town."

"She did not return to the Shire?"

Marabell shook her head, "No. It wasn't until she was crossing the Misty Mountains that she realized she was with child and she said that she really hadn't been looking forward to going back to Bag End. We lived in Rivendell till I was about seven, I think."

"We had no idea. It's no wonder that our letters went unanswered. Until Gandalf brought news, we thought the worst had happened." The old dwarf's brow creased down and they lapsed into silence. Marabell found herself pulled from staring at the fire when he continued. "Why did you come here? If your mother thought all this time that she was still banished… why did you come? Was it to see Thorin?"

"No!" She all but shouted before she could stop herself. "No, it wasn't to see _him_." She clasped her hands in her lap. "It was her last wish," the answer was soft. "And after everything she had gone through, I was going to at least try. She missed all of you _so_ much," her voice was thick with tears, her head hung low when she felt the press of his hand on her shoulder.

"It's been a long day and things of such a heavy nature can wait for another. I've had a room readied for you. Take the rest of the day to rest. Bombur will have dinner sent up to your room a bit later."

With a warm hand he lead her out the door and down the hall. Thankfully it wasn't very far. Her feet her starting to drag behind her and she didn't relish the thought of many more stairs. They took a turn to the right passed a set of wide looking guards when the design of the hallway suddenly changed. It was wider and brighter. Halfway up the walls was marked with a thick line of runes carved into the stone then painted over with a gold paint. It looked beautiful against the natural green of the mountain rock. The doors they passed were few and spaced far apart. Each had a rune done with a silver paint and a large coloured stone embedded in the door just below the unfamiliar symbol. They passed another pair of guards coming down the hallway. They moved to the side to allow them to pass.

The door Balin stopped at had a emerald the size of her eye embedded in it. "Well, this ought to suffice. If you need anything, pull the rope next to the door and a servant will be right up."

"Thank you, Master Balin."

"Now none of that. It's simply Balin. Try to get some rest. I fear the next few days are going to be hard on all of us."

Balin took his leave which left Marabell alone to explore her new surroundings. As it turned out it wasn't a single room with a bed like she expected, but a suit of rooms. The first from the hallway opened up into what served as a sitting room. There was a desk in the one corner, a fireplace and more chairs. The floor was covered with thick woven rugs. The furnishings were rich and to her delighted surprise not made from stone as those in Balin's office had been, but of smooth polished wood. And not only the furniture. There were beams of knotted wood across the ceiling as if they truly supported the weight - though she knew they didn't. The doors were also wooden with a curved edge along the top. More wood was inlaid around the fireplace and around the doorways.

It was so unlike how she pictured a dwarven home to be. Along with the deep green fabrics around the place, it was positively hobbit-y.

She stopped. This room had been meant for her mother. Looking around she noticed little hints here and there of touches put in place just for her. The flowers carved above the mantel were her mum's favorite and the over stuffed chair by the fire looked shockingly similar to the one that had been in their sitting room back at Bag End.

Marabell moved at a more sated pace. She dropped her pack next to the bed when she found it before checking out the remaining doors. But all her melancholy lifted the moment she opened the door to the bath. "Oh," she breathed. "I'd love to see them try and get me to leave now." She was kneeling naked in the massive stone tub before she had even figured out how to work it, her dusty travel clothes scattered about the floor in what her mother would have called a 'dwarfish mess'. She didn't care. This would be her first proper bath in months and she planned to enjoy every moment of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

><p>With no windows anywhere inside her room so she had no idea for how long she'd been asleep for. Only that her dinner sat untouched in the sitting room and she had crawled out from the towel she had been wrapped in after her bath to burrow naked under the furs of the bed at some point during her sleep. The slide of the sheets against her clean bare skin had been so surprisingly sensual that she had been reluctant to leave them when she woke up. However the threat of someone coming to check on her did get her moving and dressed in her least dirtiest of clothes. She really needed to get her things cleaned. She had been grateful just to be able to wash her smalls in the tub the night before. The rest would come soon she supposed. She still wasn't sure how long she would stay.<p>

She pulled on a pair of dark leggings to go with her cream coloured tunic. Feeling oddly underdressed, she added a pale green vest to it before closing her belt about her narrow waist with her sword on her hip. She added her boot dagger out of habit before twisting her hair up into a knot, not bothered by the dark ringlets that hung down around her ears.

As she left her room and ventured into the hallways, she hoped it still wasn't the middle of the night.

Marabell did managed to scare the piss out of the poor guards at the end of the hallway however when she greeted them with a friendly, "Hello." They had least still had the presence of mind not to draw their swords on her, but only just. She tried not to laugh at their surprised faces but couldn't help her wide grin. "I'm sorry, but I was hoping one of you might be able to tell me what time of day it is?" They gave her a queer look as if she had just asked what the mountain was made of.

"You've spent too much time under the open sky if you've lost your stonesense," quipped the younger of the two only to be roughly elbowed by the other. "What?" The guard scowled at his partner who bowed.

"Name's Frar, at your service, Princess. And I'd ask you to forgive him, however I think it's about time someone learned when to keep his thoughts to himself."

"Princess?" She stared at the guard's very serious face and wanted to tell him she was no such thing. Only.., she was, wasn't she? She had never given it much thought. Hobbits had no need for titles or gold and only ever wanted their simple comforts. Perhaps in this way she was more hobbit than dwarf. Either way she was still the daughter of a king. Their king. It was going to take a little getting used to.

The young guard had visibly paled and Marabell saw the beginning of a panicked apology forming and really didn't want to deal with it quite so early in her day. So she quickly addressed the older guard Frar, "The time?"

"You've missed the seating for breakfast, Princess, and still have some hours before noon," he answered with a bob of his head.

"Thank you. Now, would either of you be able to tell me how to get to the kitchens?"

Since his young partner seemed to have gone mute, Frar answered. "If it's a meal you be wanting, we can have one brought up to your room right away."

"No, no thank you. I have some things I have to do in the kitchen before the party tonight. So if you could just tell me the way."

She had listened and had had them repeat it back twice before she set off, however she was barely out of sight of the rooms when she found herself lost and by trying to backtrack she only seemed to have made it worse.

Standing to the side of a large open pathway, she looked out at a small market. There was no food though, which she found odd, only crafted items for sale. It was by no means the kitchens, but she was if nothing curious and started towards the nearest stall.

"Mistress Baggins," A stout dwarf with his brown beard braided in loops bowed to her behind his table. "Tafo, son of Drainfo, at your service. If there something I can help you find?"

She looked up from the stunning, if not overly large, necklaces and bangles on his table. "The kitchens," she answered quickly, before her eyes caught sight of a shockingly large jeweled piece.

"I beg your pardon?" He blinked at her in confusion.

She looked up with a shy smile which had the jeweler blushing beneath his beard. "I'm lost actually. I was looking for the kitchens when I found myself here. Thought I'd take a look first before finding my way."

Marabell felt another dwarf slide up beside her even before he spoke. "You're on the opposite side of the mountain from the kitchens, you know."

"Well that just figures," she huffed. "These are beautiful by the way." The jeweler puffed up at the praise and Marabell turned to Nori standing with a light smirk at her side. "If you dwarves want to mess with me, you might want to consider changing how you style your hair or something. I could have drawn Bofur's hat mum described it enough. Along with your hair." She pointed a finger up at the brown, tri-pointed locks at the top of his head, then lowered her voice. "Oh, Master Spy," she added playfully. It had been her mother's nickname for the dwarf.

He laughed at that as he discreetly steered her away from the little shops. "We might just do that. Hate to make it too easy for you. Mahal knows we did not make it so easy on your mum."

"So I've heard." She was not surprised that Nori already knew who she was. Her mum had mentioned that there had been little the dwarf didn't seem to know about the goings on within the Company and had been the first to bring up her affections for their exiled king. Bilba had warned her that there was no better dwarf to share a secret with than Nori, however you couldn't trust what he might do with said secret once given.

They were moving down a hall with runes marked periodically into the wall. "I should warn you that it is unwise for you to be alone so deep in the mountain." At her raised brow he continued. "It's is not that it is unsafe… just very large. It's not hard for even a dwarf to become lost or even trapped in some of the more lesser used areas."

"I thought that Erebor was fully restored now?"

"Not quite." His eye had a habit of jumping towards every shadow, turn and nook they passed. It was making her feel twitchy. Out of habit her hand fell to the sword at her hip, drawing small comfort from it. She hadn't given any thought to the fact that just being inside the mountain might not make it completely safe. She suddenly felt foolish. No city was truly safe. Even here there would be those looking to take advantage of a lone lost female. Though from what she knew, crimes against her sex were treated with the utmost severity.

Still, Nori was right, she shouldn't be wandering around on her own.

He gave her a crooked smile as he held open the kitchen doors for her. Marabell looked around in confusion wondering how they had gotten there so fast, but a happy shout from Bombur inside drew her attention away and Nori took that moment to fade back into the shadows.

"Good morning, Mistress Marabell. I was hoping you might still come by. I got those apples set out for you on the table over there. Still not sure what you have planned for them."

She smiled warmly at the portly dwarf. "Just Marabell, please. Or Bell, even. That's fine also."

He rang his hands in his apron, casting his eyes down. "I did not want to presume. I knew your mother and all but…"

"No, that's quite fine. Now where can I find…" The rest of her morning moved swiftly after that. Bombur did his best to stay out of her way and point her towards the items she needed as she asked. She borrowed an apron and commandeered a workbench for herself before hunting down the things she was missing. She was lucky that Bombur kept his pantries very well stocked and she only needed to make a few small changes to her recipe that thankfully wouldn't affect the taste.

Marabell set to work washing and peeling the best of the apples, dividing some up to be mashed while the rest she would keep as nice even slices. She worked happily, humming a small tune to herself. She was so caught up in what she was doing, she hadn't even noticed that Bofur had come in and had taken a seat near the end of her table. She quickly set him to work breaking apart a few loaves of day-old bread into smaller cubes.

"Do you not like Fili?"

Bofur's sudden question had her looking up. "What makes you say that?"

The toymaker gestured to the apple she was cutting. "The lad hates apples. I'm sure my brother told ya."

She used the back of her hand to push a few stray locks back from her eyes only to feel something grainy rub against her skin. Looking at the back of her hand she realized that she had just rubbed sugar on her face. The bag must have leaked at some point.

Bofur's hands stilled as he watched her run her pink tongue across the back of her hand, chasing the line of spilt sugar along her skin. Her eyes closed with the motion and she licked her lips at the end. He tore his eyes from the sight, disgusted with himself for the feelings the image had invoked. The lass was Bilba's daughter. He had no right to be thinking such things. Not to mention she was Thorin's daughter. The king would have his head for sure!

"Darn stuff gets everywhere…" She picked up another apple and began to cut. "But yes, I know he doesn't like apples but he'll love these ones."

Keeping his eyes on his work he asked, "What make's ya think that?"

Her hands stilled and her eyes got a far away look to them, but she just smiled. "Because he will."

They chatted pleasantly together. He peppered her with little questions about herself and offered up stories of his own. Bofur found that enjoyed nothing better than making the little lass laugh. Her whole face lit up, her cheeks pinkened and for a moment he saw his Bilba.

Bombur watched his brother sadly from across the room with just a little bit of worry. It wouldn't do well for him to get too involved with Marabell. As Bofur opened the oven, Marabell pushed in her baking dish. Bombur took that moment to join the pair with some lunch while she waited for her dish to bake and he spent the time swapping trade secrets with her while his brother leaned back, eyes going back and forth between the pair as they chatted with a small smile on his face.

Once they were done their small meal and their dishes cleaned and put back on the shelves, at Marabell's insistence, he had others who could have cleaned them, her dish was out of the oven and ready for the finishings. Marabell was all smiles as Bombur set her treat to the side, away from the others already prepared for that night's dinner feast when Nori slipped back in through the doors.

"Miss Bell, there is someone who wants to see you." He held open the door.

"Oh," she dusted her hands on her apron before removing it and quickly washing her hands. "Thank you so much, Bombur, for letting me use your kitchen. You too, Bofur. Thank you for the help. I enjoyed it very much."

"You're welcome here any time, Bell, and I'll make sure your gift makes it where it needs to go for tonight and that there is no snacking," at this the round dwarf cast a hard eye over to the other cooks who had taken to chatting quietly over Marabell's dish with hungry eyes. They suddenly looked very busy as they scattered.

"I'll see you both later?" They nodded with smiles and she happily grinned back. "Come now, Master Nori," she walked for the door with her head held high and a bounce in her step. "Let's see what they want." The spy smirked at the bothers before following her out the door. They heard a muffled, "Which way?" through the door.

Bombur pushed Bofur from the stool he was headed on the moment they were gone.

"Hey now!" The toymaker jumped up, straightening his hat.

The rest of the staff had cleared out, leaving just the two of them. With a heavy sigh the cook took a towel from his belt and began to wipe down the counters. "She's not your...?" He met his brother's hazel eyes with a raised brow.

The smile dropped from Bofur's face as he shook his head.

"You were lucky with Bilba."

Bofur leaned against the nearest table staring at his boots. "I know."

It went without saying that Bofur had almost been sentenced to live his remaining life alone. Bombur had been lucky in finding his One so early in his life. All he had wanted was for his brother to find the same happiness he found in his Tanil. While Bofur enjoyed his crafts, he was not wed to them like many others. When Bilba first came along he had thought it finally his brother's chance. However it quickly became apparent that another had his sights on the little hobbit and his brother had backed off.

He feared that Bofur might be seeing Marabell's presence as a second chance.

Bofur pulled on his braids as he pushed himself off the table. "I'll see you later tonight."

* * *

><p>It wasn't until they reached the first branch in the hall that she stopped and allowed Nori to lead. "Um, so where are we going?" she asked nervously, hoping it wasn't to see Thorin.<p>

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Back to your room. They'll meet you there."

"You're not going to tell me who 'they' are, are you?" He grinned. "Thought not." They walked in silence for a time. "Do you think you could explain what some of the runes markers mean?" She guested to one such rune carved into the wall. "Might help to prevent a repeat of this morning." And she also wanted to know what they meant. Since dwarves coveted their language so tightly, her mother had only been able to teach her a few things in Khuzdul. Mostly curses. Well her mother hadn't taught her those directly, but Marabell had heard them enough growing up to get their meaning.

The walk back to her room was taking far longer than it should. It took two loops before Marabell had learnt enough of the runes to notice that he was taking her in circles. She huffed in her annoyance to which he grinned and turned them about and up a flight of steps. Finally they entered a guarded area with the golden runes along the walls and she was happy to know where to go from there. Which was a good thing since Nori quickly left her, disappearing back to wherever it was he seemed to hide until he was needed again.

There were new guards waiting where the pair she had talked to that morning had stood. They eyed her sharply but didn't stop her and she continued towards her room.

She thought for a second that it was Thorin waiting for her by the fire and she nearly closed the door again, but in that moment's hesitation she noticed that the invading dwarf was wearing skirts. Upon hearing the door the dwarrowdam turned with a warm maternal smile and a sparkle in her eyes. She stayed in her place near the fire and allowed the smaller female to look her over, as she did the same.

Marabell had to admit that this was the first time she had seen another female in the mountain besides herself. She knew they were there, they had to be, it was just that she hadn't _seen_ any yet. She knew this to be Dis. The similarity between her and her elder brother were too close not to be kin. Her hair was just as blank with her silken beard kept short along her jaw. Her sideburns were long and braided, held in place with beautiful hair clasps. There was little else to see besides the fine layers of her robes. So many so that Marabell was unable to see much else of the female's figure. She had to admit she had always been curious about just how much alike to dwarves she really was. Her cheeks were smooth like a hobbits and her feet small like a dwarfs, and while her ears were again those of a hobbit… she wondered what else made her a dwarf. She was a bit tall for a hobbit, nothing too outstanding. She had a hobbits curves, or at least thought as much… Overall it was just confusing for Marabell who was neither but both.

Dis stepped forward to take her hands. "I had waited for the day when I would be able to welcome a nephew or, Mahal blessed us, a niece into our family. Though you are a little bigger than I would have like you to be upon our first meeting," she cheeked. "There are so few little babes running about our halls that I long for it again. However I welcome you all the same, my niece."

Marabell's heart was warm and she worried she might cry when Dis pulled her into her tight embrace. It had been a long while since she had been held as such. It made her she missed her mother dearly and she clung to the older female who equally returned the gesture. "Thank you," her voice was watery but she held back her tears.

Pulling back, Dis did not relinquish her completely. "We're family, my dear. If you need anything, you come to me." She dropped her hands as she ushered her towards the chairs. "I fear my brother is an idiot and has caused much unnecessary pain with his stubborn ways."

At the mention of her father, Marabell shoulders went ridged. A reaction Dis didn't miss.

Her face turned cold. "I'm not here to plead his case for him. He will need to work at earning your forgiveness for himself." Her grim face jumped into an easy smile. "No, I'm here to get to know my new niece and to make sure you're ready for the feast tonight. I know the others are eager to meet you."

Marabell smiled down at her hands. "I'm excited to meet the rest of them as well."

Dis waved a hand at her comment. "I know you've already had a run in with some of the Company. I've had to make sure a few others didn't storm your door last night when you didn't come down for dinner. Those males have no patience for anything, it seems. They will see you soon enough. Now, tell me about your journey."

The conversation was easy from there. Marabell felt herself eager to share and answered all of Dis's questions happily. After a time Dis rang for some tea and cakes to be sent up. Marabell hadn't even realized how starved she had been for another females presence until Dis announced that the feast would be starting shortly and that they better get ready.

This brought up a whole new set of problems for the dwobbit. She had nothing to wear and had no idea what would be expected of her. Dis, wonderfully, seemed to feel her panic and quickly stepped in.

"Now, I know you brought little with you, so I assume you will be needing something to wear. I have a few things of mine that should fit you and I'll have them brought over shortly. First, into the bath with you and use everything on the small tray I set next to the tub. All of it. Or I'll come in there and wash you myself."

At Dis's fierce motherly command, Marabell smiled and discovered that there was indeed a tray set next to the tub when she entered the bedroom. A thick bar of sweet soap, a bottle of rich oil, a fine comb and a small bowl of what looked like rocks. Marabell brought it out from the bath, "What's this for?"

Dis looked at it in surprise. "Bath salts. Pour the whole thing into the bath before getting into the tub. They take a moment to break down, but they make the bath wonderfully soft." Marabell followed the dwarrowdam back into the bath. "Make sure the water is nice and hot. Then scrub with the soap and used the oil and comb on your hair. Make sure to let it sit for a little while before washing it out. I expect to see you drying by the fire when I get back." Dis moved towards the door. "Oh, and don't open your door for anyone. I'll let myself back in."

Marabell frowned in confusion at that but said nothing. She set about getting the bath going. With the water running hot, she added in the bath salts and got undressed. This time she folded her clothes, setting them neatly to the side. Her sigh came out more as a moan as she slipped into the soothingly warm waters. Even though she had just bathed the night before, she could easily do this every day for the rest of her life and never get tired of it.

She did as instructed and tried not to laze around the bath for too long. All too soon the dwobbit found herself sitting before the fire working a comb through her knotted hair.

"Oh… Bell," Dis's awed gasp had her turning to see the other female by the doorway. "Your hair is stunning."

Marabell's cheeks heated at the compliment and her hands dropped back to her lap to fiddle with the comb. "Thank you."

Dis glided over and pulled the comb from between her fingers before lifting a strand of her damp black locks. "It's so fine. And soft! Oh, deary, you'll be the envy of every dwarf in this mountain. Does it keep it's wave when it's dry? It does, doesn't it. Just lovely."

"You say that, but it's a mess to take care of." Marabell replied. Secretly she was pleased to have something the other dwarves might want. Those in the Shire had loved her hair as well, though it was never quite as curly as the others. Her mother loved to brush it when she was younger and told her to never cut it, that her hair was a precious thing and as much a part of herself as her fingers or toes.

Marabell knew from her mother's teaching that dwarves valued their hair very highly. Bilba had always impressed the importance that she should understand both her heritages. That she didn't have to pick one over the other. Bilba had then laughed and started the tale of the time she had cut her hair one evening during camp and how the Company had been near tears with shame and worry, thinking that they had done something grievously wrong for her to have done such a thing. Dwalin had almost broken Thorin's nose, believing he had been the cause of her cutting her hair.

"Bell, dear? Is there something wrong?"

Dis's concern brought her back. "Oh no. I was just remember something my mum said when it came to dwarves and hair."

The dwarrowdam hummed. "A dwarf that does not keep his beard well kept, shames Mahal Himself." Marabell's hand moved to her smooth cheeks. "You are young yet. By dwarven standards you are still a child," Dis continued when she felt the younger female tense. "I know better than to think such things. My point is that you may still come into your beard, or you may not. Either way if my idiot of a brother and the others in the Company thought your mother to be beautiful, I'm sure other dwarfs will as well."

Marabell turned. "I'm not strange to them? I mean…" She turned away embarrassed. "The other gentlehobbits never took much of a interest in courting. Well there was this one, but he had only hoped to get his hand's on my mother's smials as my husband after she had passed."

Dis began running the comb through her hair in long gentle strokes. "It's important to remember that your are a Durin Princess. Though you will never sit on the throne, your children, should they be dwarven, will." Dis's hand dropped away when Marabell again turned to face her with her blue eyes wide. Dis only chuckled, turning her head back to where she wanted it. "You're right. It is far too soon for such thoughts. You only just returned to us. For now let us get you dressed. I'm excited for you to meet my boys. I'm sure you three will become fast friends like they were with your mother."

After combing out every strand of her hair, Dis carefully wrapped it into a loose coil and pinned it to the back of her head so she could get dressed. The dress the princess had brought for her was a rich blue, Durin's colour, she explained. It had a black underskirt and short sleeves with a round neckline trimmed in fur. The dress was tight across her chest, which caused hers to be pushed up in the most appealing way. Dis simply smiled and said that most dwarrowdams were not as endowed as she was. Marabell marveled at the lace work on the dress, though not as flowery as other lace she was used to, it had its own effect and looked positively dwarven with its blocked out design.

"There." Dis stepped back to admire her work. "We'll need to pin it in at the waist a little bit, but it looks wonderful. Now, where are your boots? I should have thought to had them cleaned earlier."

Marabell looked down at herself. "Isn't this a little… formal for a birthday party?"

"Nonsense. It's not a public event, but this will be your first time meeting much of the Company. It never hurts to make a good impression." Taking the girls hands, Dis lead her back towards their chairs. She took a small wooden box out from her skirt pocket and pressed it into Marabell's hands. "Normally it would be Thorin's task as your father to present these two you and to braid them into your hair for the first time." Dis opened the lid carefully to reveal several metal beads inside. "Some of these you will wear tonight, a few can wait if you wish for him to do it himself. Firstly," She picked one out which was such a bright silver it could only be mithril. It was marked with a rune she had come to recognize as Durin. "This one, when braided here," Dis carefully gathered the hair before her right ear. "Tells others that you are a Princess of the line of Durin. Along with this one," This second one was a rich green which reminded Marabell of the stone of the mountain. "Stands for Erebor. They may also be braided into your beard, if you desired. Remember, the right side is your halls, the left your family."

After braiding them in place Dis lovingly brushed her fingers along each. "Should you take a craft, that bead would also be on your right. One will be placed on your left should you wish to court someone… But we will discuss such things at another time, should you wish to."

There was only a single bead left in the box. It was a mix of gold and mithril with a rune she didn't recognize. "What's that one for?" she asked.

Dis's face was guarded. "It says you are a daughter of Thorin. If you like I can braid it in for you, or you may wish to save it for when Thorin can do it. Or, you can chose to not wear it. Now by doing that I will warn you that because everyone knows you are his daughter, by not wearing the bead you will show that you have renounced him as kin or that he has not acknowledged _you_ as kin. It will depend on if he choses to do so tonight or not."

Marabell thought that it was a lot of meaning for such a small little thing. When her mood had been dark and her mother unwell, she had often cursed her sire. Her mother always asked her not to do so, that it wasn't his fault, that the ways of dwarves were hard and stubborn and that he had not been in his right mind when he had cast her out. That being the case, he had never come for her either. Now she knew this to be just a series of mix up and missed chances. That her mother could have come back and that they could have been a family.

'_You do not have to like them, little Bell. They are your family, even if you don't chose to acknowledged them. But family is there for each other, even if they are at each others throats most of the time.' _Her mother had told her that aftered a very spirited shouting match with Lobelia to which Marabell had only caught the tail end of but had the idea that it had to do with lace her mother had bought the day before which Lobelia had wanted for herself. She had thought her mother silly till about a week later when she opened the door to find Lobelia standing there in the drizzling rain, helping her mother up the stairs. Seemed her mum had tripped near Lobelia's front gate and the other hobbit had come out to see her home. Lobelia had turned up her nose at their thank-yous and said that if they wanted to thank her, they could just give back her lace. Marabell had been ready to slam the door in the sny hobbit's face but her mother had beaten her to it.

Marabell plucked the bead from the box and met Dis's understanding eyes before holding it out to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

><p>"Who shit in your ale?"<p>

Thorin turned his glare up from his cup to his old friend leaning against the pillar beside his chair, but didn't answer him. After all these years Dwalin didn't need him to tell him what was on his mind in that moment. He hadn't been able to sleep and hadn't heard a word during any of his council hearings that day. Fili had only just returned from the Iron Hills and Thorin hadn't even been able to grant him a days rest on his own nameday.

"Would you have rather not have know?" Dwalin sighed, taking a drink from his own cup.

"Yes," Thorin answered honestly. "And no. At least I know now that what I felt all those years back was her..." He drained the rest of his cup.

The warrior knew Thorin was talking about Bilba's death. He had some understanding of how it felt from when his brother had lost his One. Had said that it wasn't like a stab to the heart, but like your heart had gone missing and there was nothing but this big hole deep inside. The warrior had always been a little thankful he had never found his One. He never had to worry about his own life in protection of others or that he might cause someone he loved to feel like that should he perish.

Dwalin turned from his thoughts to see the doors open. Dis came in leading Marabell on her arm and his drink only made up half way to his lips.

He hadn't taken the time on their first meeting to really look at her. She was a stunning little thing all done up in Durin blues with her new braids in her hair. The rest, by Mahal, had been left to fall in silken black waves down her back in a way that Bilba's never had. Even from across the room the kohl Dis had used on her eyes made them pop like two perfect sapphire. Had Thorin not moved in his chair just then, Dwalin feared he might have continued to stare. Instead he turned, threw back the rest of his drink, grabbed Thorin's mug from his loose fingers and moved off to get some more.

Dis was holding her arm tightly and whispering in Marabell's ear as they stepped into the room. "Don't worry. I'll be here if you start to feel overwhelmed. It's mostly the Company and their families, along with some of the council members and a few nobles we had no choice but to include."

At first sweep of the room she noticed only a single familiar face. "Gimli!" Marabell smiled as the dwarf in question jumped. His full brown beard had been brushed out neatly, the thick braids of his mustache looked newly done and he was in cleaner clothes though he still wore his armor.

"Mistress, urg, I mean, Princess Marabell." He bowed so quickly she feared he might fall over. Beside her Dis laughed and poor Gimli's ears turned pink as he stuttered.

"Ah, Dis, leave off the poor boy." An older dwarf pounded Gimli on the back with a grin. "He's been a mess since he found our lost princess here at the gates."

"Have not," Gimli pushed at the older dwarf off with a scowl.

Still grinning, the older dwarf bowed. "Gloin, son of Groin, at your service. Makes me glad that my son here was able to help you, lass. Hear the guards almost didn't let you in." He crossed his thick arms. "Shame to them, all here should know that Erebor welcomes all hobbits."

Marabell's eyes jumped between the pair. She wondered how she hadn't remembered before. The name Gimli had been familiar but she hadn't been able to place it. Both dwarfs shared the same big nose and thick brown beard. "Oh, forgive me, Master Gimli!" she fussed. "I should have recognized you at the gates."

"Recognize me?"

She nodded. "Oh yes, mum spoke greatly of your father and how much he loved his family." She turned to the older with a smile. "Said you have a beautiful wife. Will I be able to meet her?"

Gloin puffed up at the praise, though his eyes had a sadness to them. It seemed the others had been told about her mother's passing. "Oh, ai. She'll be about a bit later. She wanted her hair just so for the dinner. She has such beautiful hair. Just wait till you see it," he added wistfully.

There was a tug on her arm as Dis pulled her attention. "Let me introduce you to a few of the ladies. They have been most curious. I will say that one is very much excited to meet you." The princess smiled at Gloin and Gimli as she pulled Marabell away.

They had just turned when the pair was waylaid by a stern looking dwarf with a disapproving scowl. "Gruer, at your server." He said the words but didn't bow. With her arm once again looped through the other princess's Marabell had felt the other female stiffen.

Gruer had a twiny graying beard done up in interconnecting pleats. Each was capped with silver and marked with his hall runes, though she had no idea what they stood for. His hair was just as intricate as his beard, criss crossing braids moved back from his face into a single thick one which trailed down his back.

His eyes were a clear brown and it wasn't until she looked at the face beneath the hair that she realized that despite the gray, he was rather young looking for a dwarf - and really the scowl hadn't helped.

"How fortunate for you to finally join us, princess. And so close to Durin's Day. I hoped you had few problems getting in?"

Marabell put on her best party smile. "No, no trouble."

"Good, that's good. Lady Dis," he bowed his head towards the other dwarf before moving on.

Dis let out a huff the moment he was out of earshot. "Be careful with Gruer," she warned as she began to pull her along. "He's on Thorin's council and as many ties within the Stonefoots. Because of his influence his halls joined with Dain's in the battle against the orcs. He's a very powerful dwarf."

"But you don't like him," stated the dwobbit.

"I don't trust him. Like has nothing to do with it."

She lead her towards a trio of dwarfs standing together closer to the table. Marabell felt a pair of eyes on her and followed the feeling across the hall to the far end of the room. Dis turned her suddenly before she could fully glimpse the figure sitting in the large stone chair. Even so it had been enough, her heart clenched in her chest. "Ignore him. I warned him that if he so much as speaks one word to you first, that I will have what's left of his beard."

Marabell frowned as she thought back to the day before in Balin's office. She hadn't noticed, and it had likely been why she had mistaken Dis for her brother had at, but the king's beard was rather short. "But as the king, shouldn't it be… well longer?"

Dis snickered into her hand before she could stop herself. "Yes well. I'm not so cruel of a sister to send his daughter after him asking him about the length of his beard. No, no. I see this is another lesson. There are only a small handful of reasons for one to cut ones hair when it is not done out of punishment. Mourning is the most common. Or a vow." Dis slowed her steps. "When we first lost Erebor to the dragon, our people were lost. When we lost our grandfather, King Thror, followed quickly by our father… our people were shattered. It fell to my brother to rule and he vowed to cut his beard and keep it cut till he could restore our people and bring us home."

"But he did that."

Dis looked at her sadly. "He did. He was able to bring us home, but there was someone still missing." They had reached the other dwarrowdams who turned to greet them, eyeing Marabell with rampant curiously as she returned the favor.

To her right was a stocky female with bright red hair and smiling brown eyes. She had only a few hairs on her chin but her sideburns ran down her chest in a long braid which she had looped at the ends. She introduced herself as Tanil, wife of Bombur and tailor by trade. Marabell couldn't stop her eyes from lowering to the obvious roundness of the dwarf's belly. When Tanil caught her eye she gave the other female a small secret smile.

The next Marabell would have mistaken for a male with her full black beard had it not been parted in such a way as to display the tops of her breasts which were nearly hidden beneath the heavy loops of golden jeweled necklaces. Her introduction was much cooler than Tanil's had been, introducing herself as Vonna, daughter of Gartak. Her black hair had been braided in loops to join at the back of her head in a fashion that must have taken hours. It shone with jewels and golds. Marabell thought it quite pretty, but looked dreadfully uncomfortably heavy to wear.

"Vonna's father is on the council," Dis explained, her tone flat. It gave Marabell the impression that Dis didn't much care for the other dwarf and she wondered if there was anyone on her brother's council which the older female did like.

The last of the group had a sweet eager face and round nose. Soulful brown eyes watched her with clear excitement. Her fine brown beard had been gathered into two simple braids. Her hair had also been done simply, two braids pulled back to frame her face. She had no jewels and only the plainest of robes on. Even so there was just something about this younger female that made Marabell think she was simply cute.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" She grabbed up both of Marabell's in her own. She had on a pair of soft warm mittens which looked lovingly made. Brown eyes scanning her face as she leaned in. "You have her nose. I always thought Bilba had such a tiny nose but she assured me it was quite normal for a hobbit."

"Now, Ori, you know the princess it not a hobbit," Vonna chimed in causing Ori to drop her hands and lower her eyes.

Which Marabell thought very rude but was still caught up trying to process the fact that Ori was in fact female, not a male. "But I thought…" Marabell looked between Ori and Dis who had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Mum never mentioned..." She gestured with her hands at Ori.

Ori wrung her hands together. "I wanted to tell her! But my brothers said not too. We couldn't risk Thorin finding out." She frowned, her big brown eyes watering. "I'm sorry about Bilba. I really wish…"

Dis reached out to the younger female. "None of that now. Tonight is as much a celebration to welcome Marabell as it is one for my son's nameday."

"Oh no!" Marabell turned to the princess. "No, no. It's Fili's party. Please, it would be rude for me to take from his special day."

"Nonsense!" She grinned.

Across the hall Thorin was working on another mug of ale which Dwalin had shoved into his hands. Blessfully the drink had taken the edge off his thoughts and lessoned the sting of his heart. He was going to have to slow down before he lost himself completely to it. If he made the situation worse than he already had, Dis would tan his hide like a youngster.

His nephews finally entered the hall. Thorin frowned in disapproval. Kili was laughing as he pushed his brother through the doors. When Fili didn't move fast enough for his brother's liking, Kili grabbed hold of his arm and pulled.

Thorin's frown deepened at such childishness from his heirs. They were no longer children, they had both come fully into their beards now, but it never failed the moment both his nephews were in the same room they turned into thirty year olds. He had hoped that by sending Fili to the Iron Hills for the last year they would have both matured some in their separation. Those two spent far too much time together.

"Do you see her?" Kili rapidly scanned the room. "Think she's here already?"

"Likely. If you hadn't had to try on every nice tunic you owned, we might have been here sooner when she first arrived."

"It's not my fault I want to look nice when we meet our new sister," Kili's grin was wide and excited as his eyes continued to jump about the room. "And you can't be late for your own party, Fee."

Fili gave his brother a fond smile before pushing him to the side just in time for him to run face first into a passing pillar. He snorted at the look on his younger brother's face when he suddenly found himself on the floor.

"Fili!" Thorin barked from his chair and both princes instantly stiffened at the tone, their grins slipping away. "I moment if you will."

Kili sent him a sympathetic frown as he pushed himself off the floor, straightening his clothes back out while his brother went off to speak with their uncle. He moved to follow but his brother signed behind his back for him to stay. Kili's frown deepened at that before a light laugh pulled his attention towards a group of dwarrowdams in the corner. If anyone knew where their new sister was hiding it would be their mother.

Ori was the first to see his approach and smiled in that shy way she always did around him or his brother and said something in a low voice to his mother who in turned stepped back. Kili's steps slowed when he saw the young dwarf standing behind her. The first thing he noticed were her large pale blue eyes, followed quickly by her dark wavy hair which brought his attention to her beads which, like his mother's, marked her as a Princess of Erebor.

And to the bead braided on the left in such a way as to wrap around her small pointed ear that marked her as the daughter of Thorin and Bilba, their lost little hobbit. She was their new little sister.

Dis had a disapproving look on her face as he joined them. "Where have you two been hiding? Where's Fili? And what happened to your head?"

Kili's head slapped up against his forehead. It felt a little tender from his encounter with the wall but he was sure it was nothing. "Fili's with Uncle," he ignored her other questions in favor of looking over their newest companion. He gave her a sweeping bow. "Kili, at your service!"

Her smile had a touch of laughter in it still from whatever it was they had said to make her laugh before. As such she couldn't help but to return his exaggerated bow with a deep curtsy of her own - bowing in a dress seemed a bit silly to her, though she knew a curtsy wasn't very dwarfish of her. "Marabell, at yours. I'm so glad to finally get to meet the two of you. I'm afraid I have heard so many stories, I'm not sure just how much is true anymore." She stepped a little closer. "Did you really trick my mum into going up against three trolls on her own?"

"She was only suppose to steal the ponies back! Not get herself caught," the prince crossed his arms but couldn't stop his grin.

She looked at him in mock horror. "I can't believe you really did send an unarmed hobbit against _three_ trolls. I always thought she had been exaggerating that part a little."

Ori shook her head. "Oh no, she went up against three mountain trolls, she did. Completely fearless," she added with admiration. "It's that right Fili? Fili?"

Marabell looked to Fili who had just slipped through the crowd to join them. The first thing she noticed were his warm brown eyes fixed on her and she smiled. Her mother had told her that Fili was the sun, while Kili the moon. She had never really understood what she had meant till she saw the brothers standing side by side just then. Kili had his mother's dark hair and soft beard which had been gathered into a single braid. Her mother would have been happy to see it. Kili had had only the barest showings of the beard during the quest. The others had teased him endless for it. Mum had just said he was a late bloomer.

Fili on the other hand had hair the colour of sunwashed grass in autumn. It was thick and gathered about his shoulders like a mane. He had twin braids framing his mouth and like his brother had gathered his beard into a single braid capped with a golden clip. His hair was neat, pulled back from his face with several smaller braids about his temples.

And her mother was right, they were both quite handsome. She flushed at the thought by was saved when Kili elbowed his brother and Fili bowed. "She did. Our Bilba always had a way of running head first into trouble."

"Now, Prince Fili," Vonna broke into the conversation. "You have only just returned home. What tales do you bring back with you from our cousins in the Iron Hills, hmm?"

"Vonna," Dis chided. "He's only just come back, as you say. I'm sure he's much more interested in what he has missed. Come, the two of you, I would speak." Dis moved off towards an alcove near the back of the room. Kili and Fili lingered a moment before following. Fili casting a small smile in Marabell's direction when he passed by.

Once the Durins were gone, Vonna moved off in a huff to find her father and Tanil left to sit by her husband for a time and get off her swollen feet.

Ori looked quite bewildered to have suddenly been left alone with Marabell, but ever the scholar was not about to pass up the chance to pepper her with questions. Marabell happily answered what she could while she countered back with her own about small things she had noticed and couldn't help but feel the two of them were going to be fast friends.

"Oh, Ori do you have time tomorrow? I have something to give you."

"Me? I'll be in the archives most of the morning. We're still working on restoring a lot of the text ruined by Smaug. Can I asked what it is? Or do I need to wait?"

Marabell laughed. "I think it will be more fun to wait. I'll do my best to find you in the morning. I'm afraid without a guide I get quite lost. Also, please forgive me if I'm late. I have no idea how you tell the time without being able to see the sun. I fear I will be late for everything."

Ori blinked in surprise. "Can you not feel it?" Marabell tilted her head at that so Ori rushed on. "Do you have your stone sense? No? Do you have some time tomorrow to talk more? I'm fascinated to find out more about… Um, what _do_ you call yourself?"

"Mum always said I was a dwobbit. Or at least that's what she called being half dwarf and half hobbit."

"Dwobbit?" Ori smiled. "I like it. Then do you have some time to talk about being a dwobbit? I'd love to write it down. There is very little on half-breeds in our archives. I've come across a few involving humans but that's about it."

"Sure, I'd be happy to answer more of your questions."

"Would you look at you!"

Marabell turned to see Bofur's grinning dimpled face and smiled widely in return.

"They turned you into a dwarf," he cheeked and Marabell laughed.

She looked down at herself before flicking on of her braids. "It seems they did. But they can't change all of me." She pointed to her exposed ear.

"Oh, ai. Along with your smooth cheeks and them eyes of yours, no hiding your hobbit-y nature now is there." He hooked his thumbs in his belt. "Have you managed to meet the rest of the Company now? I see you found our Ori here. Bet she was a bit of a surprise. The rest of us sure were shocked." He winked at the Ori, causing her to blush shyly.

"Yes, I will admit I had been surprised. But let's see, who am I missing…" She went over the company in her head. "Met Nori and the princes… Gloin… So I'm missing Dori, Oin and Bifur."

Bofur grin suddenly dropped and his hand moved to tug on his mustache. "I guess it's my turn to give sad news, huh? Sorry, Bell, but you're a wee bit late it seems. We laid Bifur to rest with the ancestors nearly twelve years ago now. The old wound finally got to him."

"Oh..." Marabell looked downcast. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"But my brother and Oin are sitting right over there," Ori tugged at her arm to get her attention. "Why don't you go say hello?"

The two gray haired dwarves were sitting together sharing a pot of tea when Ori brought her over.

Dori looked up from his cup with a kindly smile. "Now who have you got there, Ori? This wouldn't happen to be our new Miss Baggins, how would it?"

"Baggins?" Oin turned at the mention of the name. He looked her up and down quickly before grunting and turning back to his cut. "That's not Bilba. Thought you said she was a Baggins?"

"I did," Dori assured. "She's Miss Bilba's daughter."

"Her what?" Oin's brows drew down. "She's looking for water? Then why did Ori bring her here."

With a fond sigh Bofur slipped into the seat across from Oin and quick made a series of gestures with his hands. Marabell knew this was Iglishmek and was happy to realize the she some of the signs Bofur was using.

"Bilba and Thorin's daughter you say?" Oin turned his attention back to her. "Ah, I see it now."

Ori leaned into her ear when Oin turned back to his cup, seeming to have lost interest. "Forgive him. He's not quite the same anymore. Still the master of his craft by he drifts a lot in thought."

Marabell didn't get much of a chance to speak more before Dis and her sons came back into the room and everyone was called to take their seats. She hesitated as everyone moved around to their seemingly assigned places. Thankfully Kili and Fili found her.

Kili looped an arm across her shoulders and began directing her towards the head of the table where Thorin and their mother was currently sitting. "Looks like you're stuck sitting with us," Kili grinned.

As it was he was right. Thorin sat at his place at the end of the table. Dis sat on his left as his sister while Fili took the right as heir. Beside Dis sat Balin and Dwalin, while Marabell was seated between the princes. She refused to so much as look at the king and kept her eyes fixed on her plate as she sat ridgely in her chair.

Once everyone was seated the doors were opened and dinner was brought out. Marabell's mouth watered at the sight. Large plates of boar meat dripping with juices and runny fat. Stewed chickens and peppered mutton along with boil potatoes and onions were set down. Meat pies and minced carrots. Baskets of crusty bread moved about the table. There was very little green, but Marabell didn't mind. Large mugs with frothing ale was set before each guest. She had been living off cram for far longer than she would have liked and was eager to tuck in.

Thorin for his part had kept one eye on the servers and the other on his daughter. It was still a strange concept but his heart had swelled the moment she had taken her seat beside Fili and his eyes had caught sight of his bead tucked behind her ear. For all the wrong he had done her mother, Thorin vowed right then and there as Kili said something to finally make her smile, that he would do everything to make it up to her.

His brother's punch from across Marabell's seat had Fili coming back from his thoughts. "What's gotten into you, Fee? You've been quiet tonight."

He gave his brother a small smile. "Sorry, Kee. Just tried." Marabell was watching his face, caught between their conversation as she was their chairs.

Thorin stood then, catching everyone's attentions. "I thank you all for being with us tonight as we gather in honour of Fili, son of Vili, Prince of Erebor of the Line of Durin's nameday feast." He raised his cup. "_**Thadulur kuthu barufizu oshmâkha ra tûm fulz muneb meregizu.**_ May Mahal's hammer shield you in the coming years."

"To Fili!" Shouted Bofur to be met but cheers of, 'Prince Fili' or 'the prince'. It seemed everyone was waiting on him and only when Fili tipped back his ale did everyone else follow suit with a roar.

"Also," Thorin's deep voice rang out. "I'd like to formally welcome my daughter, Marabell, to Erebor." A cheer rose again from the Company but Marabell had her eyes fixed sternly on her plate as her heart raced. She didn't acknowledge the king as he sat back down, much to his disappointment and worry, turning his blue gaze to his sister's for reassurance but wasn't able to gain much from her expression before everyone began to eat.

Things moved quickly from there. Food moved around the table as each person helped themselves. She smiled when she caught Fili adding several heavy slices of spiced pig to her plate and in returned offered him the potatoes when they passed her way which he quickly made room on his plate for.

It turned out that Marabell's eyes were far bigger than her stomach that night and soon enough she was slowing while everyone else continued to eat heartily. "When do we give the gifts?" she asked no one in particular.

"After the meal."

"You got me a gift?"

Both Fili and Kili spoke at the same time.

She turned to Fili with a grin. "Of course I did. It's your birthday. I wouldn't be a very good hobbit if I missed giving you a gift for your birthday."

"When did you have time for a gift?" Dis asked curiously. "You've hardly been here longer than a day."

Marabell shifted under the weight of everyone's eyes. "This morning, actually."

"Made it all herself!" Bombur happily added from down the table, much to the surprise of all four Durins and Marabell blushed to realized that everyone now seemed to be listening in to their end of the table.

"May I have it now?" Fili asked eagerly, turning fully in his seat.

"I-" Marabell's eyes jumped from Bombur's to the princes. "I don't see why not. It is your birthday after all. Just… not sure where it is currently." She glanced around but hadn't seen a gift table anywhere.

Bombur was speaking quickly to his brother. Bofur's grin was wide as he jumped up from the table. "Yes, all right. The blue one." The toymaker shot her a grin before heading away from the table.

Kili was nearly hoping in his seat. "I can't believe you get a gift made by our new Khazush."

"New what?" She looked to Fili who almost seemed to be almost glowing with happiness.

Balin chuckled. "Sister, lass. Seems you've gained yourself some brothers."

She eyes jumped between the pair so quickly she feared she might get a kink in her neck. "You'd really have me? We've really only just met..."

"Yes!" Fili closed his mouth with a snap, almost appearing bashful at his own outburst.

Kili was nodding adamantly. "We've always wanted a little sister." He threw his arm across the back of her chair and pulled her closer to sit against his side tucked under his arm. "You going to make me a gift for my nameday as well?"

"I don't even know when your birthday is- Oh! Thank you, Bofur."

With a flourish and a wide grin, the toymaker presented Marabell's gift. The blue cookware was perfectly warm as she took it from Bofur's gloved hands. She was happy to see the cooks had remembered her instructions from that morning. Fili's eyes were wide as she set it on the table between them. She put a hand on the lid to remove it but didn't right away. She chewed on her lip as her brows drew down in thought.

"If something wrong?" Dis asked with concern.

"No, just…" She glanced at Fili shyly. "A little bit nervous, is all. I'm just… Oh bugger it." She removed the lid before she could second guess herself further.

It smelled heavenly. Rich and warm and like _home_. But it simply made Fili look uneasy and just a little bit green.

From the head of the table, Thorin frowned. "You baked him an apple pie?" Everyone around the table muttered someone to their partners, mostly in Khuzdul, but it didn't help to settle the dwobbit's heart at all.

Kili at her side let out a gust of air as he sent his brother a look. "That's too bad, Fee. Can I have it then?"

Marabell drew the dish to the side away from the dwarf's grabbing hands. "No you may not. And I'll have you know it's a Fili Cake."

"A Fili Cake?" Ori chimed in curiously as both brothers perked up.

She fidgeted under so many eyes. Instead she focused on the warm feeling of the dish between her hands. "It's just what I've always called it. It's a caramel apple bread pudding. Mum liked to make it for me in the fall during the harvest. She said it was a recipe from her mum's old cookbooks. She just made a few changes to it. I think I was about eight when she first made it and I refused to eat it. I don't remember why." She smiled softly at the memory. "She said that I had to try it, only one bite. Said that is was so delicious that it would even make Fili like apples again. So I did and she was right," she laughed lightly. "Next harvest I asked her to make the Fili cake again and the name just kind of stuck."

There was silence when she finished. Then warm arms were drawing her into a solid chest. Fili pressed her so close that she could almost feel his heart. He turned his face into her hair as he drew a watery breath. "Thank you." He was pulling back almost as quickly as he had hugged her. Tears had tracked their way down his cheeks into his beard and she wasn't surprised then to find her own tears.

It was when Balin sniffed into his own sleeve that she turned to see watery eyes throughout the Company. Kili beside her stood, holding his drink high. "To our burglar." Marabell looked around as one by one the others stood.

"To Underhill!" Threw in Nori.

"The Luck-Wearer," added Bofur.

"To the Ring-Winner," this from Ori.

"Dragon-Riddler," from Bofur again.

"Barrel-Rider," Kili and Fili lifted their cups.

All eyes turned towards the king at their head. He turned his eyes slowly from one face to the next, then raised his cup higher. "To Bilba." At that they drank.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p>After the toast their drinks were refilled. Music started back up from the corner of the room as most of the guests broke away from their tables. Thorin, Dis and Balin rose to join jhnwith a few other nobles while Dwalin headed off towards the casks of ale. Fili had stayed even after his uncle had asked him to join them to discuss business. He had his hands around his bread pudding staring at it with wide eyes. Kili had found a spoon and was now brandishing it as a weapon as he tried to get the first bite from his brother. It was Dwalin who cuffed the dark haired prince over the back of his head before taking the spoon and giving it to Fili then put a new cup down in front of Marabell before moving on.<p>

Ori had shifted seats to be closer to the young Durin trio and leaned over the table, addressing Fili while studying the dessert. "Well? How is it?"

"Mmm," Dori stopped at the back of his sister's chair. "It smells wonderful."

"I thought it tasted good- hey!" Bofur straightened his hat after his brother nearly knocked it off. "I couldn't help it! She was working so hard on it and it would have been horrible if it didn't work out right, and..." He trailed off under his brother's continued stare.

Bomfur waved towards Fili's spoon. "Well, go on. She did spend all morning working in the kitchens to make it for you. You need to at least try a bite."

"Please," Marabell's soft voice had Fili pausing again, the spoon hanging between the dish and his slightly open mouth. "Don't feel pressured into liking it." She fidgeted. "I know it would mean a lot to her if you did enjoy it, but she would have hated it if you did so just to be polite and well I just would rather you be honest and all if-"

"Mara-" Fili started but then seemed to think better of it. Instead he put the ladened spoon in his mouth. To her delightly, his brown eyes lit up with that first bite and she knew he liked it, even before he said so. "It's good," he laughed. "I forgot how much I used to love apples," he added before taking another bite.

"I'm glad! I mean- I'm happy you do. It was the best I could do on such short notice and all and I know how much everyone cared for my mum and I thought it was worth a shot and all... I was just worried you'd feel forced to like it cause it came from her and everyone seemed to be making such a big deal out of it and all-"

"Ai, lass, but such a thing is a big deal among us dwarves," Balin spoke, cutting into her ramblings. He'd come up beside the blond prince. She hadn't noticed the his or Dis's return. "Who it came from is only part of it."

She looked around as the others nodded. Fili was working his way slowly through the bread pudding, steadily ignoring his brother's begging puppy eyes as he enjoyed each mouthful.

The princess slipped into Thorin's abandoned seat at the end of the table. "It's because you crafted it with him in mind which makes it so special," Dis elaborated. "It's one thing for you to make something and give it away. Another to make something _for_ someone. You've really only been here a day, yet you spent your first morning here making something for a dwarf you barely know and yet you put so much love into the gift." Her dark eyes softened as she looked upon her son, eyes crinkling around the corners when she noticed he had more than a few crumbs in his beard for someone who was normally such a clean eater.

"I… well I-" Marabell looked down at her hands with a frown. "All my life all I ever heard from my mother were stories about all of you. I think I can recite the whole journey off the top of my head. I used to dream about what each of you would like and had nightmares of dragons and pale white monsters," several members of the company flinched at the mention of Azog. "Maybe that's a little unfair. You don't know me. You didn't even… You didn't even know I existed."

She caught Bofur sending a sharp glare over his shoulder towards their king. She felt a small bloom of fondness for the hatted dwarf for his eagerness to defend her and her mother.

"Then why not tell us?" Dori had somehow gotten his hands on a cup a tea and settled himself beside his sister.

Ori nodded, pulling a small notebook from the inside of her robes along with a stick of graphite. "What was it like growing up in the Shire? Was it difficult? Did you meet many other dwarves?"

Marabell waved a hand at all the questions. "It took a while to get used to the Shire at first. It was so different from living in Rivendell."

"What?" A cry went up from most present save for Balin, and Dis, who already knew she had been born amongst the elves. Even Fili lowered his spoon for a moment.

"Well… Mum was coming across the Misty Mountains when she realized she was with me and by the time she and Gandalf reached Rivendell she was too far along to continue. She had me there and we didn't move to the Shire till I about seven."

Ori was quickly writing away in her small notebook. "So when's your nameday, Miss Bell? How old are you now?" she asked as an afterthought.

"Well, I was born in the early stirring months. The fourth of Solmath. Currently I'm thirty-six. Not hard to remember since it's the same amount of years since you reclaimed the mountain." Fili's spoon clicked against the side of the dish and she turned to see him looking slightly pale. "What is it?" She frowned.

"Still just a babe," Dori gasped with widened eyes.

Marabell's mouth opened into a slight O before she pushed herself to her feet. "Now see here," she brandished a finger. "I know where this is going. Dwarves mature a lot different from hobbits, but I'm not a dwarf. I'm grown. I own land and manage my own money. I could get married if I wish." Balin frown at the idea while Kili and Fili suddenly looked like they had swallowed their tongues. She put her hands on her hips. "I've been on my own for years now, thank you very much. I won't have you lot treating me like a fauntling just because I'm a bit young by your standards."

Gloin grumbled, "You're not exactly a hobbit either." But stuck his nose back into his drink when she glared at him. The look was so much Bilba's, but the ice of her eyes was all Thorin.

"That may be, though Uncle Elrond says-"

"_Uncle_? That elf?" sneered Thorin having come back to the table.

She felt her blood rise and the desire to knock that hard look off the kings face. One would think that after all the years their distaste for elves would have lessened. As far as she knew they were on good terms with Mirkwood and Lord Elrond had aided them during their quest. Marabell was rising from her seat and pushing back from the table, her eyes never leaving the king's glowering face. "Yes, _that elf_, as you put it is my uncle-"

"What right does he have-"

"Because _he was there for us_. He was the one who soothed my scraped knees when I was learning to walk. He taught me my letters. Because _he was there_. Where were you?" she hissed coolly.

Thorin looked startled briefly before he managed to smooth out his face. It did not help to ease the guilt and pain in his eyes however. Marabell wished she hadn't noticed. It was hard to hold onto her anger and bitter disappointment when she knew he was hurting. She bit her lip and was the first to turn away, heaving in a great breath of air to help calm her tears away.

Thorin knew he had spoken rashly the moment he had opened his mouth. Bilba had often been the victim of his thoughtless words but she had never stayed angry at him for long. He knew in this instance that he was going to have to be the one to broach the topic of peace between them. So far they had proven that neither of them could be in the same room for very long without coming to words. He eyed her tight fists and wouldn't have been surprised if her dwarven blood led her to strike him. Mahal knows he has it coming.

He did not need to look around to know that everyone was watching them. After all these years as king he could feel the judgment in his eyes. Marabell's unexpected arrival had been the topic of great discussion among the people of Erebor. Most believed that Bilba had spirited away with another dwarf's child without his knowledge which was why she had never returned or that he had rejected her and the child since it would be of mixed birth. Their burglar was held in mix regard by most of the nobility. Those who had been there during the Battle of Five Armies had no doubt as to the smaller creature's loyalty. Those who had come after had only unbelievable tales and rumors to go on.

Nori had already brought his attention to a growing number of dwarves who believed her claim as Thorin's kin to be false. With there being so much bad blood between them it would only be a matter of time before it was brought to the courts as an official matter. They needed to talk. Even if they could not mend the path between them, they might be able to at least be at peace with each others presence.

Thorin swiftly turned, his heavy cloak swaying about him. "Come we me." He didn't wait to see if she followed. He feared that she might not. Mostly he didn't want her or the others to see how lost he was. He had never been the diplomate and knew he put his foot in his mouth more often than not but for his Bilba he would do his best.

He moved towards the doorway tucked close to the fire hidden out of sight behind a pillar which leads to a smaller adjoined room. The room was warmer than the hall, heated by the center hearth. It was octagon in shape with detailed carved murals on each wall-face and a domed ceiling. A ring of padded benches circled the fire. Thorin dropped heavily onto one, resting his elbows on his knees as he gazed heavily into the fire.

"Did you have something you want to say?"

Thorin started and looked up to find his daughter seated across from him. She wasn't quick enough to hide her satisfied smirk for having startled him. She had likely done it on purpose.

"I think we both have things to say," he stated mournfully. "And I'd rather they be said here than before the whole of the kingdom."

Marabell waved a hand towards the door. "That's hardly all of Erebor."

Thorin just shook his head. "By this time tomorrow everything said will be repeated at least a dozen times. Already most are aware of our… harsh treat of one another. I would not have this continue."

"So you want me to leave then?" Her tone was utterly flat as she said this and it cuts at him sharply. "I don't have to stay," and with this he begins to hear her anger resurface. "I don't want to cause you _problems_. I didn't come here to be a burden. I only came because mum wished it, but she never said I had to stay." She doesn't add that she would like to be able to stay. That already she would miss Dis and Bombur and Bofur dearly only after a single day. That she wants to become better friends with Ori and to get to know her new brothers better.

And a tiny, tiny part of her wants to get to know the dwarf her mother fell in love with and died for.

There is a small fond smile on the king's face when she lifts her attention from the flames between them and a haunted look in his eyes like he's seeing something else - someone else - other than her. It causes her to come around the fire and she drops to the bench to his left. She's closer, but there is still that measured distance between them. "You never came," she starts.

With a heavy sigh he answers, "I thought it what she wanted."

"Because she didn't answer your messages?" He nods. "But why didn't you _come_? I thought dwarves were supposed to be stubborn? Just because she didn't answer a couple ravens you thought she didn't want to see you ever again?"

He has the decency to look shamefaced at this. "After what I… After what happened-"

"You mean after you _tossed her_ off the top of the gates?" she cuts in bitterly and he cringes but he doesn't deny it. A heavy silence settles in the room, weighted with haunted memories. Thorin can hear the sounds of battle echoing within the stone like a ghostly whisper. He hears Bilba's desperate screams for him as Azog bears down on him with his bloodied mace held high.

"The others had planned to travel to the Shire to bring her back, however Gandalf told us that it would be a wasted journey because we would find no welcome there," Thorin speaks to the flames though he feels her eyes. "He had a letter to Balin saying that she didn't want her share of the gold and nothing else. Had I known the truth behind the wizards words…" He growled to himself with a shake of the head.

"You would have came to get her but you thought… and she thought..." Marabell slumped. "Oh bugger it all." Her ran her hands back through her hair, tugging at her braids. She jumped to her feet with the need to be moving and paces because it helps to keep her grounded in the moment and helps to drive back the bitter pain that this whole thing had to be some cruel twisted joke because her mother had wasted away waiting for him while he had sat in his mountain mourning because he had thought she didn't want to see him.

When her pacing lead her back towards the door she continued right through it. Everyone's eyes were instantly on her as she made a beeline for the ale. Nori was leaning up against the barrel with a filled mug in his hand. He wordlessly held it out to her and she swiped it from his fingers to drain it quickly. "Another," she held the cup back out. The thief raised an eye at the request but refilled her cup anyways. She downed half of the second cup before thinking better of it. The music was still playing and though unfamiliar, it seemed the players had been trying to lift the mood of the room with a more upbeat tune.

Dropping her cup onto the table as she grabbed for Ori. "Dance with me." She pulled on her mittened hands.

"D-dance?!" the dwarf stuttered, her whole face flushing red. "But I don't-"

Marabell already had her moving towards a more open area near the fire. "Then I'll show you."

Balin stood next to his brother and watched as the young princess helped Ori to dance. Their scribe was hesitant and stiff beside Marabell's twirling form but soon enough Ori relaxed and allowed herself to smile freely. He tried not to give his brother's sudden intake of breath too much thought.

Thorin moved along the edges of the hall, his eye on the pair. Soon Kili was pulling at his brother to join them while Bofur had taken out his clarinet to join the band. He was not surprised by the guarded expressions of the dwarves on the council. A few looked downright hostile muttering about knife-eared merriment unbecoming of a Erebor princess. The old dwarf fought back a frown, trying to keep his face impassive while he filed their names in the back of his mind in case they had need of them. He knew Marabell already had a black mark against her for her birth. It did not help that there were those who believed her to be false. It would up to Thorin to help dispel most of those rumors, however he knew their little Bell was going to have to prove herself to not just their king, but to the whole of Erebor if she wished to find a home among the dwarves.

He hoped she would be up for the task.

At some point in their dancing Marabell found herself with Fili's hands within hers as their legs kicked out. His grin was wide and joyest and she laughed freely. Spying a certain hatted dwarf playing off near the corner, she broke away from the prince with a twirl.

"Bofur! Come dance."

He gave her a dimpled smile. "Think not, lass. Don't know how and I'd be more likely to stomp on your toes in these big old boots of mine."

"Nonsense." She reached for her skirts, lifting them just high enough for the dwarf to get a peek at her boots. "Shoes, remember?" She leaned in and took his hands, giving them a tug.

The toymaker tried to resist but then she gave him that sweet little look and her lips pushed into a pout and he just couldn't. Mahal forgive him now but he knew himself lost when she turned as they headed towards where the others were dancing, her long black hair falling back across her shoulders and met his eyes before turning to look ahead, her hand in his.

As they joined, Fili broke apart to speak with Thorin. Bofur ended up twirling Ori about, very aware of both her protective brother's stares. Kili had lifted Marabell from the ground, causing the dwobbit to squeal with a bright giggle.

When the music began to die down, the group moved off towards the tables sweaty and in need of a drink.

For Marabell the rest of the night was mostly a blur. There were bits and pieces she could recall. Her and Ori had ended up shoulder to shoulder giggling over something she couldn't remember. Bofur told a few rather crude jokes which had most of the room laughing. At some point when Fili joined them again, taking the king's seat at the head of the table. The others began to then tell embarrassing stories about the prince while he opened his other gifts.

Marabell quite enjoyed the way his fair skin flushed. That particular story earned Kili a rather painful looking punch to the arm.

In the morning, she assumed it was morning, Marabell woke up naked in the sheets again with someone pounding far too loudly at her bedroom door. The sound matched the beating behind her poor eyes and she groaned, turning over to bury her head under a pillow.

"Come on, Bell! We'll miss breakfast."

Whoever it was could come back later. Right now she just wanted to sleep. If she was asleep the pounding would stop. But it didn't. The knocking at the door continued till suddenly there was a pause followed by a quick warning, "I'm opening the door."

It was Kili.

Suddenly she was sitting up in the overly large bed shouting for him to close the door. Which he did. He was just kind of on the wrong side of it when he did so and he had this wide eyed panic look as his eyes locked onto her naked shoulders and she was screaming with the sheets pulled up over her chest for him to leave but then he wasn't moving fast enough and was hit square in the face with one of her pillows.

Dis laughed at the end of Marabell's account of her morning wake up before giving her younger son a half-hearted chastising look. "You should know better than to enter a ladie's room unannounced."

"Well I told her I was coming in," he grumbled, shoving another thick slice of bacon into his mouth.

"I think, Kili," Thorin leveled the younger dwarf with a hard look. "It would be best if you didn't enter any female's room without an invitation." Kili flushed and turned all his attention to finishing what was on his plate so he could leave as soon as possible.

The small dining room was part of the King's royal suites which, to Marabell's surprise, had been across the hallway and a door over from her own. She hadn't given much thought as to who else had the other rooms but it turned out that Kili's and Dis's were on either side of her own while Fili had the room across the hall. Like her own, the king's door had opened into a sitting area, though far larger than hers and more heavily decorated in stone and a center hearth. To the right had been an open archway to the cozy dining room made solely for the royal family. The left had been the door to his study. Marabell had caught a glimpse of it through the open door. Straight through was a large set of double doors she assumed went to his bedroom.

"You have training with Dwalin this morning," Thorin added as he wiped his mouth, eyes fixed on the younger prince.

"But I was going to give Bell a tour of the mountain!" Kili protested.

"What?" Marabell looked up at the mention of her name. "I promised to meet Ori in the library this morning."

Thorin nodded at this. "Then it seems you are free to train after all, Kili. Fili, when you are finished I'd like you to join me in my study." He pushed back from the table and quickly left.

Dis tisked lightly, her eyes softening as she looked on her fairer son. "Fili, if you'd like more time to rest-"

"It's fine, mother." Fili kept his eyes lowered as he pushed his plate back and rose. Leaning down he pressed his forehead to hers. "I'll see you at dinner," he said before leaving to follow in Thorin's wake.

There was a clink as Kili rested his fork down on the edge of his plate. "Something is off with Fili," he remarked with a worried frown.

"What makes you say that?" Dis asked concerned. She had long since come to terms with the strange bond her children had. She had often thought them to be twins in spirit with the way the were able to read each other's moods so well.

Kili was frowning down at his plate. He shook his head. "He's just… not himself. Something must have happened in the Iron Hills." He rose from his chair. "I better be going as well."

Marabell watched the darker prince go with a curious tilt to her head. "Dis, did something happen to Kili last night?"

The older female turned. "Hmm? Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

"Kili was limping a little. Thought maybe he fell or something. I don't remember too much of the evening after dancing I'm afraid," she added bashfully, taking a large sip of water to help ease her aching head. Already the food had settled her rolling tummy. She'd have to remember to go a little easier on dwarven drink in the future. It had nothing on elven wine, but it was still much stronger than her tolerance could handle.

Dis's expression turned from curious to somber, her eyes haunted. "An old injury now. It's more noticeable first thing in the morning or if he's been sitting for too long." She forced a small smile. "Tell me, what business do you have this morning with young Ori?"

"I have a book my mum wanted me to give her for safe keeping. Though I'm going to need a bit of help finding the library. Nori was teaching me some of the rune markers to help get around but I'm afraid its going to take me a while longer yet."

Dis chuckled at this. "Do you get lost often?"

Marabell pursed her lips. "Not _all_ the time… Just this place is huge."

The princess did laugh at that. "Is that the reason?" She wondered what the young dwobbit's reaction would be if she told her she was just like Thorin. That for the first several years in the mountain her brother was getting lost constantly and was late for everything because of it. It had been his order - after Balin's suggestion - that the rune markers be carved in the first place. He argued that it was to help those new to the mountain settle in quicker. Many of the dwarves new to Erebor had never lived inside a mountain before and found it difficult to navigate.

"Since I have nothing pressing this morning, I can take you. Maybe along the way I can teach you a few more runes for you to use," Dis offered. It would be important for Marabell to learn Khuzdul. Dis had no doubt that the dwobbit's knowledge of their secret language was sorely lacking. She had no idea how much of it Bilba had picked up during her time with the Company and of how much she might have passed on. She was going to need to speak to Balin about it.

Dis waited in her own rooms for Marabell to get what she needed from hers. When the younger female returned she was dressed in a pair of tight fitting leggings, a long tunic and vest. Dis gave the outfit little mind, her attention focused on the messy braids in her long black hair. With a fond sigh she had Marabell sit down so that she could redo them. "You need to take care with your hair," she childed. "For now I will be more than happy to do them for you. I miss being able to do my sons' hair. It was all too soon before they were braiding each other's."

Marabell felt warmed by the idea. She had missed her mother sorely and even this small action was helping to ease that pain. She tried not to lean into the other's touch has she carefully parted and reordered her hair. Her mum had never done more than brush it or tie it back for her.

She felt the princess's hands still before she spoke, "I had been meaning to ask you something. Strictly between us that is," she started delicately. "I'm sure you are aware that a dwarf isn't considered an adult until the age of eighty. I assume this is different in hobbits."

"Thirty-three," Marabell answered, not sure if she was comfortable where this was going.

Dis nodded. "So by hobbit standard you are an adult, by ours you are a child, but since you were raised among hobbits you consider yourself an adult, correct?" She felt Marabell stiffen and ready a protest but she simply gave the braid she was holding a small tug to still it. "I am not my brother and the other's might not have noticed…" Dis's quick fingers finished the braid and she moved to sit before the dwobbit, taking her hands. "You are quite beautiful. Different, but no less pleasing and there were a few who noticed during last night's events and I'm sure more will follow. I had thought to wait on discussing this, however I fear it's best to do it now. I do not know how things are done among hobbits, so I worry over your experience with such attention."

Marabell flushed.

Dis continued on patently. "What did you mother tell you about dwarven courtship?"

"Just that her and my… father missed quite a few steps in their courting. Mostly the courting part," she added ruthfully. "They didn't get a lot of time to… discuss things before…" She trailed off, the rest going without saying.

"I feared as much." She gave her hands a squeeze before releasing them. "We will have a lot of discuss then. For now, be careful. I fear we dwarves are nothing if not passionate and we do not take courting lightly. An offer to court is as good as a marriage proposal. Since you see yourself as an adult, we will treat you as such and allow others to do the same." She smiled then, reaching out and pulling her in till their foreheads met just as she had seen Fili do earlier. "Take care of yourself. I see you as the daughter I never had. So not only will those who hurt you have to worry about the Company coming down on them, they also have to worry about me." The smile she gave was positively predatory.

Feeling both embarrassed and heartfully grateful, Marabell smiled at the older female. "I'll make sure to remind anyone who crosses the line," she laughed lightly.

Dis sombered. "If a male so much as touches you without your consent, you tell me." To this the dwobbit could only nod.

As they headed towards the library, Dis continued the lessons Nori had started, though she didn't take them in circles as the spy had. They parted ways at a grand looking doorway.

Marabell had always had the same love for knowledge that her mother had had. When she pushed opened the doors she found her ultimate paradise. Her mouth fell open as her grip on the wrapped tome in her hands tightened.

Everything about Erebor was large and grand. For a people the size of dwarves and hobbits, they did nothing small and every piece of work was a masterpiece in its own right. The room was open but had been carved into spiralling tiers supported by fat columns carved with shelves each filled with neatly order books. The sheer number of tomes she could see just from the entrance was amazing. She would be able to spend days looking through them and not even see half of what they currently had. It put the library at Rivendell to shame.

A dwarf stepped out from around a column of books to greet her. He bowed, "Harvo, at your service, princess. Is there something you need?"

Marabell brought her eyes down from one of the upper levels to look at the dwarf. He had graying brown hair done back with no less than five braids. Two of which joined into his beard. She briefly eyed the beads at the right side of his face though had no idea what any of them stood for. "I'm looking for Ori."

At the mention of the name the dwarf's lips thinned. "I'm sure I will be of better service to you, princess."

"Ah, no thank you. Ori is expecting me."

Harvo hawed over that but bowed, leading the way through the maze of shelves to a smaller section one level up filled with writing desks. Ori sat behind one with ink stains on her hands, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She grinned brightly when she noticed Marabell. Though that smile quickly tempered when she noted the other dwarf's presence.

"Thank you for your help," Marabell thanked him, hoping he would take his leave of them. He did, but only after a hard look towards the other dwarf. When she thought him far enough out of hearing and Ori had set aside her inks she commented, "He doesn't care for you much, does he?"

"Ah, not as such," she said glumly. "But he treats me fair enough. Is that for me?" Ori's smile returned upon sight of the wrapped package in her arms.

The dwarf slide down the bench to make enough room for Marabell to join her. The dwobbit set the package between them and unwrapped the protective covers. Ori's eyes widened at the red leather bound tome inside. She reached to run a finger over the golden script on its cover but pulled back her ink stained fingers. "There and back again. A hobbit's tale but Bilba Baggins," she read with wonder, turning shining eyes towards Marabell. "You're giving this to me?"

Marabell nodded. "It was her wish for you to have it. I've read it already and the others are welcome to do so also. It's her account of the journey up until we returned to the Shire."

"I- oh, thank you! But are you sure? Something this precious should really stay in the family," she argued, her hands still hovering over the book but unwilling to touch it till she had cleaned her hands.

Marabell looked over the book fondly. "In a way it is. She considered all of you family. So just make sure you take good care of it."

She was suddenly engulfed in a massive hug. "I will! I promise." There was a sniffle. "I'll read it right away and if it's alright I'll make a copy so the others can read it and won't have to worry about damaging the original."

Marabell smiled as she eased back from the embrace. "That sounds wonderful, and Ori, she wanted you to have it."

"Oh, just-" Ori hugged her again and gave her a watery smile. "It just means so much to know she didn't hate us."

"She never blamed any of you for what happened and if anything she worried you might have hated her for what she did to help keep you safe."

Ori shook her head, standing her braids flying. "Oh no. At the time it hurt and we were confused by it all and it happened so fast, but we knew she'd never betray us."

From there their conversation turned to what Ori had been doing. It turned out she had been helping to restore older texts. Many had been lost while Smaug had been in the mountain but many more had been damaged due to time and lack of care. When she wasn't working in the library she apprenticed with Balin as a scribe, drafting legal documents and contacts.

It turned out Harvo's dislike for the younger dwarf stemmed from her lack of nobility. Although many respected the Company for winning back their home, there were still those from older lines who found some of their rise to nobility distasteful.

They chatted till they grew too hungry and Ori pulled out her lunch to share between them. Marabell felt that instant connection she had felt for the other female grow even further into a powerful friendship. She felt a kinsmanship with the dwarf which she had never felt before. Soon enough Ori was taking notes about various things as they talked and Marabell somehow ended up with a small notebook filled with hastily drawn runes with both their common and Khuzdul meanings written below to help her navigate around on her own.

She would have likely missed dinner as well had Dori not come to collect his sister. They kindly helped her back to her rooms before taking their leave.


End file.
